A New Piece On The Board
by AbyssKeeper
Summary: Resurrected on the world of Remnant, Aerith is given an opportunity to help train future guardians of the light. How will Aerith fare at Beacon Academy?
1. Ideas For Others

**Uploaded 11/16/2016**

 **Edited 11/23/2016 - some document cleanup**

 **Edited 12/16/2016 - Announcing winner**

 **Welcome everyone!**

 **I have a few ideas for a RWBY FF7 crossover but I can't settle on one. So here's my solution. A preview (of sorts) of each idea so you can get a taste of what the story would be like. At the end, cast a vote for which idea was your favorite and the winner will become an actual story from me! Now I know I don't have good history with finishing projects but I'm gonna change that! Anyways, the other ideas will be put up for adoption. Now onto the fun! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Idea 1 - Summary:** After destroying Omega, Vincent awakens on Remnant and quickly learns a familiar evil followed him. Will he be able to prevent the nightmare on this world? **\- Title:** Remnant's Nightmare **\- Main cast:** Vincent, Sephiroth, Team RWBY **\- Probable character death**

 **Status:** Up for adoption

Ozpin sat in his office facing the massive window, observing the rather horrid storm blanketing Vale. Rain angrily pelted the window driven almost entirely horizontal by the fierce wind that surprisingly had not yet toppled any trees around the academy. Several hours ago he had given the announcement that all students must remain inside during the storm when it started getting bad. That was yesterday afternoon. He was hoping that the wind at least would subside long enough for the students to get out and stretch for a while but the storm was being unusually stubborn. A bright flash of lightning made him reflexively shut his eyes.

One…

Two…

Thr-

Thunder rumbled by and Ozpin took another sip of coffee. He noticed some lights down in the city flicker while in a different area, the less extravagant district, went dark. A soft sigh left him, this storm was something else. He heard the elevator arrive and open but he continued looking at the clouds. The tell tale sound of heels clicking on the floor told him it was his assistant and dear friend.

"The storm shows no sign of letting up yet," Glynda said flatly, merely stating a fact "And the students are getting restless. Which is understandable. Honestly I'm surprised no one has snuck out yet."

Ozpin merely hummed his acknowledgement. Another bright flash followed by a loud crash a full three seconds later. He was about to make another one of his wise yet cryptic remarks when a bolt of lightning lit the sky and a bright ball with a purple hue fell from the sky the next instant. A second later the rumbling thunder rolled by and another bolt of lightning appeared but this time a small ball with a green hue fell from the sky. Both small meteors raced down to Emerald Forest and disappeared into the leafy canopy.

"Well," Ozpin said calmly "You don't see that every day."

"Should we send a team to investigate?" Glynda asked, already thinking about who to send to the crash site.

"No need to send anyone out in the rain, miss Goodwitch." Ozpin told her "Meteors are completely natural and will still be there when the storm is done ruining our fun." Glynda gave a sigh.

"If you are certain."

 **Down in the dorms**

 _tap tap … tap tap … tap … taptaptaptaptap … tap tap …_

"Yang! Please!" Weiss shouted at her blonde teammate, who was annoyingly tapping the window. The girl in question looked over at the heiress and let a wicked grin spread over her face before:

 _taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap…_

"Some of us are trying to study!" Weiss shouted louder "So for Oum's sake-!"

"Some of us are dying of boredom!" Their team leader, Ruby Rose, whined "This stupid rain is literally killing me!"

The blonde girl, Yang Xiao Long, shot to her feet and had her weapons ready in an instant "What!? How dare it even think of harming my sister!" Yang shouted in a playful tone "I'm gonna go out there and-" she was interrupted by a flash of lightning and the sight of a meteor piercing the clouds, closely followed by a second that had a different trajectory "Whoa. That's pretty cool." Yang's comment made the other three look out the window and spot the meteors.

"Wow. Meteors actually hitting the ground are really rare. Like once in a lifetime." Blake said quietly and then was almost surprised by a loud thud a second later. The sound was Ruby jumping off her bed.

"So let's go check them out!" the young girl announced.

"What? I'm not going out in this weather." Weiss shot back "And the headmaster said no students were allowed out until after the storm- Hey!" Ruby already had her gear ready and was unlocking the window.

"C'mon Weiss," Ruby said in an excited tone "A little rain won't hurt you."

"That's not a little rain. And I don't want to be caught breaking rules." Weiss reply in her tone that meant she was putting her foot down.

"Well the rest of us are going. So you can be our alibi." Yang laughed as she opened the window and jumped out.

 ****** Much later in the story ******

She watched the mysterious man slowly walk towards her. Her normally predatory and calm gaze flicking around, searching for an escape. This situation was impossible. She had spent her life training to be the best, the most powerful among those she served alongside and yet this man, this monster, had ripped through everything. Roman and Neo were on opposite sides of the warehouse defeated but alive. Most of the White Fang that had been here were dead. Mutilated. The rest were dying of mortal wounds. And throughout the massacre, he had been calm. Clear. Bored.

Her back hit a container and something new happened. A foreign emotion raced down her spine and made her knees threaten to buckle. Terror. She thought about making a run for it, her terror brought that thought, but her cold logical side painted a gruesome image of her being cut down like so many White Fang just minutes ago. Now though, he was toying with her. An apex predator tormenting another predator, making it feel like the prey that was so thoughtlessly hunted and slaughtered. He stopped an arm's length from her and she refused to break eye contact, refused to show any fear, refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had won.

He smiled, she glared. He chuckled softly, she growled. He raised his right hand, she channeled what aura she had left. He tucked some hair behind her ear, she grabbed his wrist. She focused her fury into flash incinerating his hand, he started crushing her throat. They locked gazes, burning gold glaring into shining green.

"You remain because you are powerful and smart." His smooth, deep, voice rolled out perfectly calm. He was far too charming considering just how sadistic he was. "However, I have no use for those who prove to be troublesome."

A death threat without directly addressing it. That was her style. She knew he would not hesitate to kill her, seeing as how he was currently strangling her, applying just enough pressure to let her get a small amount of air. Not enough to live but just enough to draw it out for a long time, maximize the suffering, let the victim truly face death. His aura was refusing to relent to her fire burning at his arm. In the grand scheme of things a small surrender is much more preferable to death. So in the end, before her vision began to dim, she released his right wrist and his left hand eased off her throat but did not leave it.

"Now listen closely, Cinder." The man with long silver hair and cat eyes said in a way that made the woman feel like he was trying to seduce her "I have a generous offer for you and your minions."

* * *

 **Idea 2 - Summary:** Sometimes an unexpected meeting can change your life. Jaune meets quite an interesting person after getting lost at Beacon. **\- Title:** none yet **\- Main Cast:** Sephiroth, Zack, Angeal, Genesis, Team JNPR, Team RWBY **\- No non-canon pairings planned**

 **Status:** Up for adoption

Jaune looked around frantically, trying to compare his surroundings to the map of beacon currently displayed on his scroll. He was lost and class would be starting in just a few minutes. Not a good way to begin the semester and this was supposed to be his chance at a fresh start as a new and better Jaune Arc. Since he was in the courtyard, still wondering how he got there, the blond teenager decided to take a quick break under a tree. He stood in the shade and took one deep breath before something came crashing down and scared him bad enough to make him jump back and fall on his rear.

A loud groan made Jaune realize a person had fallen out of the tree along with a large simply designed sword. The person was lying on their back but curled their legs up to their chest then with a powerful kick, flipped up onto their feet. When the person, now obviously a male, stood to their full height he towered over Jaune. Black spiky hair, bright blue eyes, a smile Jaune normally saw on Nora, and the black uniform of beacon.

"Oh, hey. A new kid." The black haired youth said before offering a hand to help Jaune up "Who're you?"

Jaune took the offered hand to stand up "Jaune Arc. Leader of team JNPR. You?"

"Zack Fair." The boy said with a smile as he grabbed his large sword and placed it on his back. Jaune was wondering how much the sword weigh "Member of team sage, senior student here at beacon, and official class clown." Zack produced a business card out of his pocket and handed it to Jaune. The blond was amazed to see that it actually had Zack's name, scroll number, and Class Clown printed on it.

"You seriously made business cards?" Jaune was wondering what kind of person he just met.

"Lesson one Jaune," Zack said with a grin as he threw an arm over the blond's shoulders "Always give it your all. Don't half-ass anything."

Jaune nodded but had a few other questions on his mind "Why were you up a tree?"

"I was enjoying the view from the top but the branch I was standing on broke." Zack thought for a moment about the current situation "Don't you freshmen have class right now?"

"Oh crap! Do you know where Oobleck's room is?" Jaune said quickly in panic.

"Follow me!" Zack answered loudly before slapping Jaune's back and taking off at a full tilt sprint.

 **Later, in the cafeteria**

Jaune sat next to his team at the table they were sharing with team RWBY. Everyone was already digging into their lunch and chatting loudly. The blond was too focused on his food to contribute to the conversation but was snapped into reality when Pyrrha started speaking to him. A few minutes later another voice started speaking to him.

"Hey Jaune!" A loud friendly masculine voice rang out "Who're your friends here?" Jaune looked over to see the black haired boy, Zack, from this morning sitting down beside him. Looking back Jaune saw the other seven pairs of eyes on him.

"Oh, uh, this is my team. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren." Each waved in turn as Jaune introduced them "And that's team RWBY. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake." They also waved in turn "Guys this is-"

"Zack Fair," Zack announced, cutting off the blond. He could tell it was because Zack was energetic like Nora, not intentionally rude "Senior here at Beacon, official class clown, and member of team sage." Everyone nodded but Pyyrha also raised an eyebrow.

"Who else is on your team?" The redhead asked politely.

"My best friend Angeal, my frenemy Genesis, and our strong silent type leader Sephiroth." Zack answered quickly, just because of his obvious energetic nature that was seemingly good at controlling. His gaze flicked over to the door of the cafeteria and in a moment he was standing on his seat and waving his arms "Hey guys! Over here!"

The two first year teams were soon joined by three young men in the beacon uniform. One with auburn hair, blue eyes, and a sword with an ornate hilt at his left hip. One with straight black hair, groomed sideburns, and a light chin beard; on his back was an astoundingly huge sword. The last one had no weapon with him, was taller than the others, had long silver hair, and bright green eyes with slit pupils.

"Would it kill you to act normal for once?" The auburn boy groaned at Zack as he sat down.

"Probably not but why take the chance?" Zack laughed while the auburn boy groaned and facepalmed.

Blake and Yang shared a look as the all too familiar scenario played out in front of them. But their silent conversation was interrupted by their team leader blurting out a question.

"Are you a faunus?" Ruby loudly and quickly asks the silver haired boy who merely lifts an eyebrow at first.

* * *

 **Idea 3 - Summary:** With dreams of becoming a great huntsman, Cloud has high hopes for his time spent at Beacon Academy. (FF7 characters in RWBYverse) **\- Title:** none yet **\- Main Cast:** team RWBY; Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Nanaki (as a Faunus), as team CYTN (citron) **\- No non-pairings planned but very possible**

 **Status:** Up for adoption

Cloud stepped off the transport with his duffel bag in hand and his sword carefully wrapped and slung on his back. The majesty of Beacon Academy was truly breath taking. He could not stop himself from staring in awe at the truly wonderful sights. Vale was already high above Nibleheim in basic life quality but Beacon stood high above the city. Both figuratively and literally. Even though he had only just barely passed the minimum requirements to attend this prestigious school, he was going to work his ass off. He had to if he wanted to be like his hero, the living legend-

Cloud's internal rambling was cut off by a girl shoving past him hard to get to the closest garbage bin and promptly vomit. The first thought through Cloud's mind was pity for whoever was teamed up with someone who got airsick. Having had enough of gawking at the sights Cloud adjusted his sword and started walking up towards the school, his home for the next four years.

"Cloud!" He heard a girl's voice call out.

He turned to see a brunette girl in a black leather outfit running towards him. Just before she stopped and threw her arms around him he realized who it was. It had been years since he had seen her and his childhood friend had really grown and not just vertically. Cloud knew he had a blush growing on his face from feeling the pressure on his chest. Thankfully Tifa pulled away after a moment and gave him a smile. The blond had to fight every teenage boy instinct to keep his eyes on hers and not look down at Tifa's chest.

"Its so go to see you! I'm so happy you got into Beacon too!" Tifa said cheerfully, nearly squealing with delight at seeing her oldest friend again.

"Y-yeah. Good to see you too, Tifa." Cloud stammered. He was glad to see her but it really knocked him off balance. Not to mention she was gorgeous now and he's not exactly an expert at talking to girls.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you're not big on the physical contact thing." Tifa apologized nervously "So um-" she was cut off by an explosion and soon after the yelling of another girl "Oh geez…"

"C'mon. I'd rather not get involved in that." Cloud said, prompting Tifa to follow him towards the school.

 **At the peak of Beacon Academy**

"I really don't like this idea, Ozpin." A male voice said from a scroll laying on a glass desk.

"I know, James. But this is the first time in almost twenty years that Midgar is willing to join the Vytal festival in a foreign kingdom. We must be willing to put a bit more effort into getting Midgar to join the festivities because of how isolated they have been." Ozpin said back.

"Have you even read the reports on the state of Midgar? On Shinra?" James snapped at Ozpin.

"We can't change anything in Midgar while the kingdom chooses to be isolated from the rest of the world. Trying to do so will provoke a much unneeded and extremely costly war." Ozpin said calmly "I have done my research and this is the best way. Even if Shinra's presence in Vale causes tensions, they have many resources that would greatly aid our efforts."

James gave a sigh and was silent for a time "I trust your judgement, old friend, but I can't say I actually support this choice to spoil Midgar during the festival."

"I did not expect you to. All I ask is you try to not antagonize any Midgar officials."

* * *

 **Idea 4 - Summary:** Team RWBY find themselves on the world of Gaia after an encounter with a mysterious Grimm. There may not be Grimm on Gaia but there is no shortage of monsters… (post AC: FF7) **\- Title:** None yet **\- Main Cast:** Team RWBY, AVALANCHE **\- No non-canon pairings planned**

 **Status:** Up for adoption

"Ugh… what the hell happened?" Yang asked. Whatever hit she had sustained made her feel groggy and very nearly made her slur her words.

"Good question…" Blake reply not daring to open her eyes or make any unneeded movements just yet.

"Where are we?" Weiss asked her usual snippy tone "Doesn't seem anything like Forever Fall."

"Girls…" Ruby chimed in "We need to get moving…" there was no missing the unease in her voice.

The other did their best springing to their feet and took in their surroundings. It was all far too reminiscent of Mountain Glen to them. No green in sight, broken buildings, piles of rubble, shattered roads, but the key difference of being deathly silent. Above were shredded metal structures, enormous bulbous structures that looked almost salvageable and in one direction was a frighteningly tall structure leaning at a perilous angle but it was quite a distance away.

"I agree with Weiss." Yang stated "Where the dust are we?"

"This doesn't look like seem like any city in Vale or Atlas." Weiss confirmed.

"This doesn't look like any city on Remnant." Blake clarified.

"I really don't like how quiet it is…" Ruby squeaked and started looking around again but was very sad to learn Crescent Rose was nowhere in sight "You have your weapons?" Another turn allowed her to see her team members inspecting their weapons. She was crushed by this development but kept her head held high for her team "Okay team-!" She nearly yelled.

All three other girls shushed her.

"Right, right. Okay, what do we do first?" Ruby commanded/asked.

"Ruby," Yang prodded "Where's your scythe?"

"That Grimm knocked it out of my hands before it used that big attack…" Ruby reply with a defeated tone before bouncing back the next instant "But I'm gonna my baby then kill that Grimm!" She once again spoke a bit too loudly.

"Ruby! Hush!" Weiss hissed. Ruby nodded.

"So first we scout for a place to make camp." Blake said in her usual stoic voice.

"But try to make sure there is water nearby." Weiss added with a smile.

"Do we head towards the death tower or away from it?" Yang asked. Team RWBY turned to their weapon-less leader

"Away from the doom tower." Ruby decided. While not at expert on survival, she did know they were more likely to find water outside a ruined city.

After what felt like hours of walking through the ruined city they were getting close to the edge of it, they assumed. The entire time it had been the same. No green, dirt, dust (just the regular kind), ruined buildings, mangled steel, piles of rubble, and the crushing silence. The huntresses in training were getting jumpy because of the complete lack of life. Normally they would have encountered at least three groups of Grimm by now, yet the silence persisted. This city was truly dead. Passing the edge of the city was not anymore uplifting. As far as the eye could see in any direction was merely desolate wasteland.

"Where the hell are we!?" Weiss shouted at the sky, her voice echoing into the distance "And where are all the damned Grimm!?"

"Weiss!" Yang whispered harshly. Weiss reigned her emotions in.

"I'm sorry but this silence is killing me!" Weiss whispered back "First we're attacked by that weird Grimm, sent to who knows where in Remnant, and now there is nothing! Like there is no way there are no grimm here!" The heiress was having trouble keeping her voice down.

"Hey," Blake said to get her team's attention "I think I see a camp over there." There was in fact a camp in the distance and team RWBY made that their new destination.

Hunger started setting in after another hour of walking and remaining on guard for any surprise Grimm. Yet again, there were none of the creatures of darkness. This area went from strangely devoid of them to suspiciously lacking Grimm. On the other hand, the camp Blake pointed out turned out to be the outermost part of a shantytown. Rubble, wreckage, salvage, and newer looking trash was what this impromptu town on the border between wasteland and ruin was made of. The four girls were beyond confused by the sight of such low quality living, and people that looked barely alive, unprotected from the world and yet surviving. With questions burning their minds and hunger starting to prod at their bodies, the four walked up confidently but cautiously.

Many people they passed looked them over and looked away. Any questions they asked went unanswered as the obviously poverty ridden people ignored them. Only one person spoke to them and the only words from them was a warning about the town. Before they could ask for clarification they were approached by a couple men in dirty and tattered blue uniforms with an emblem, a red diamond with SEC vertically down the middle, on the shoulders. Both were holding rather powerful looking assault rifles, in Ruby's opinion.

"You ladies seem lost." The one on the left, brown hair and eyes with a short scraggly beard, said in a friendly tone.

"Need some directions?" The other one, short black hair with no facial hair and sunglasses, asked kindly. Ruby bounced up to speak with them.

"Oh that would be awesome!" Ruby said in her loud cheerful voice "What kingdom is this? What happened to the city? Where's all the plants? Where are the grimm? What kind of guns are those? Do they use standard rifle rounds or something larger? Are they able to use other kinds of ammo?" Ruby asked far too quickly for the soldiers to keep up.

Blake took stock of the area and noticed something very foreboding. The faunus was aware of people slowly and casually leaving the immediate area, going so far as to redirect others that had been coming their way. She gave Yang a light nudge and motioned to the suspicious behavior with her eyes. The blonde followed the look and mentally prepared herself for a fight, getting her aura ready. The two soldiers were just laughing at Ruby's enthusiasm.

"Come on girls," the brown haired soldier said with a smile "We'll get you safely away from these street folk and our commander will get you pointed in the right direction."

With hesitance from the older three girls team RWBY followed the two soldiers to a damaged, but still functional, building at the base of one of the giant bulbous structure. It was guarded by more people dressed as soldiers with guns. The black haired soldier spoke quietly to the one in front of the door and the guard slipped inside. A few minutes later the door slid open to reveal another soldier but judging by his hat and mildly better uniform he must of been a higher rank.

"Ah, our new guests." This new man said in a friendly tone but his grey eyes were hiding something dark.

"Where are we?" Weiss all but demanded of the man. The soldier looked ready to laugh.

"I take it you're not from around here. In that case, let me welcome you to Midgar, the biggest shit hole on the planet."

* * *

 **Idea 5 - Summary:** Resurrected on the world of Remnant, Aerith is given an opportunity to help train future guardians of the light. How will Aerith fare at Beacon Academy? **\- Title:** A New Class **\- Main Cast:** Team RWBY, Aerith **\- No non-canon pairings planned**

 **Status:** Winner! My story.

"So, miss Gainsborough." Ozpin said as he looked over the information on his scroll "Tell me a little about yourself."

"Um…" Aerith put a finger to her lips as she thought about what to say "I like to garden and I make sure to always smile." She said with a nod.

"A friend of mine mentioned you have a rather rare ability to heal." The wise man stated while making sure to meet her gaze and return the smile. Aerith nodded.

"Yeah I can use my power to heal." Aerith said with a shrug. She never found her Cetra power all that strange.

"A very uncommon ability here on Remnant." Ozpin stated "Now why don't we get to the main reason you're here. To put it bluntly, we know you're not from Remnant so it begs the question, where did you come from?"

Aerith was actually glad they he decided to not dance around the topic "My world is called Gaia. It has been through a lot but it has finally reached peace. Maybe. Hopefully. But um, yeah. I was brought here by the goddess Minerva."

Ozpin and the blonde woman shared a look before the grey haired man replied "You expressed an interest to remain here at Beacon. I hope you understand my concern about this but I can't allow you to remain here until you have proven that you are trustworthy. And we will need more than claims of being delivered by a goddess." He spoke with a soft tone and a smile but Aerith could hear the underlying warning.

The young Cetra woman silently pondered how to prove to them that she could be trusted. She did not exactly have much solid evidence with her to back up any story about Gaia. So she opened her mind to the lifestream of Remnant, listening to the voices of the passed. With much effort she narrowed her focus onto Vale and continued to narrow it down. There was one standing out from the rest. They shone brighter than the others but were quiet. Broken. Aerith focused on that spirit and the spirit respond by focusing back. There was her answer.

Aerith opened her eyes not realizing she closed them and not knowing how much time had passed. She reached out and placed her hand on Ozpin's "Amber doesn't blame any of you for what happened."

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 **So there they are. Previews of 5 different ideas I have. As a reminder, whichever one gets the most votes will become a written story from me. The others will be up for adoption**

 **Please leave a Review and vote!**


	2. Chapter 1

**The winner is Idea 5! The other 4 ideas are now up for adoption and I am more than willing to help with their development.**

 **And so here it is, the first chapter of this new story from me. Please enjoy.**

The planet shook as Omega raised its mighty wings. A tremble of fear and sadness rippled across the lands as the final WEAPON lifted off the ruins of Midgar. The pure lifestream was being taken away from the ill world, the ancient alien infection being left behind an at included many of her friends. That included Zack but Aerith was determined to hold on. In their dreamlike world they kept their hands locked even as the ground fractured and split, an infinite chasm spreading between them. He was not of the Cetra blood but he could feel it as much as her, the spirit of the planet, the goddess was being torn in half, getting ripped away from the poisoned part of the body. It screamed from the agony, tried to hold itself together, feared what was happening, the planet was crying. Just like any living being, it was afraid of death. But the goddess birthed Omega for this purpose and for this purpose, Omega had no emotion. No sympathy, empathy, or pity for its crying mother. The WEAPON knew its mother would live and that is why it was pulling away from the sick and dying world.

And then it all stopped. Omega was destroyed. No, the physical form of Omega was destroyed, the true final WEAPON merely returned to its rest as its counterpart, Chaos, returned along with it and revealed that it had been a false end to this world. And together they returned to their mother, the goddess, Gaia, the planet itself.

Aerith and Zack embraced in their dreamlike world of a white sky, green grass, and flowers. The Cetra descendant felt another friend return to the lifestream, but unlike when Cloud returned to the lifestream over a year ago, this friend was at peace. Vincent Valentine, the mysterious man Aerith first met in the basement of a mansion in Nibleheim, a man tortured by his past and haunted by his failure to save the woman he loved from a terrible fate. A man of few words but wise and friendly. Aerith could feel his spirit releasing itself into the lifestream instead of fighting the dispersal, as so many do, ready to be reunited with his long lost love, Lucrecia Crescent.

"We should tell them he is at rest." Zack said quietly to Aerith. She nodded her agreement.

"It would be best." Aerith said with a smile unfortunately their time was interrupted by the arrival of another, the voice of the lifestream, the goddess Minerva. They both gave a respectful bow of the head.

"Zack Fair," Minerva said a calm motherly tone "You should go inform Cloud Strife of his friend's passing. I wish to discuss something with Aerith Gainsborough." Zack nodded to the goddess and walked away, fading into the light.

"Mother Gaia?" Aerith asked after several moments of silence, using the name the ancient Cetra people gave the planet, something she learned while in the lifestream.

"I am sending you to aid a world in need. It has been touched by darkness and the light is fading." Minerva reply, her motherly tone carrying a hint of sadness "The light must not fade."

"Why me?" Aerith felt the doubt pop up in her mind and did not mean to voice it but a thought had the same effect as speech in the lifestream "And what about this world?"

"This world has been cleansed of the worst of its illness and can finally begin to heal properly." Minerva answered with a somber tone "And you carry something that world desperately needs. Unfaltering light in your soul, a kind and gentle heart that can forgive anyone, and most of all the knowledge of how to defeat the darkness."

"Can Zack come with me to this new world?" Minerva closed her eyes and sadly shook her head in response to Aerith.

"I cannot send anyone infected by the monster's essence. It would risk exposing another world to the plague but more than that, they are beyond my power." Aerith dropped her head and shut her eyes saying a silent prayer, asking the lifestream to carry her goodbye to her boyfriend. She knew she could not be reasonably angry with Minerva as the goddess had been honest.

"What is this world you are sending me too, mother Gaia?"

"The world has been named Remnant by its inhabitants." Minerva stated in her usual tone "And I have a gift for you, for your new mission, last child of the Cetra." Minerva held out her hand and in that golden armored hand rested the small white orb from Aerith's mother Ifalna.

"What? But without Holy-"

"Hush, child." Minerva once again used her caring motherly tone to silence Aerith so she could explain "This world is safe for now and the monster is no longer preventing my intervention in defense. However, upon the soil of Remnant, Holy will be far from its true power. It will be more than enough to protect you."

"How long do I have until I am on Remnant?" Aerith felt this was all so sudden and happening far too fast for her but she had to remind herself that in this dreamlike world, time had no meaning. It could have been less than a second or a thousand years mortal time since this conversation began.

"Worry not about that, child of the Cetra. Meditate, and allow the knowledge you require of Remnant to flow into your being. When you are ready you will awaken on the new world." As she spoke it sounded like Minerva was moving away, fading into the distance.

Aerith was not sure when she shut her eyes or when she lay down but that is what she felt now. A strong scent of nature and clean air met her and for the first time in three mortal years she took an actual breath of real air. It was wonderful. She opened her green eyes and took a look around as she pushed herself up, discovering bright lights attached to a high ceiling and a comfortable bed with white sheets surrounded on three sides by white curtains. Her braid had been released, unless she was remade without the braid, and she was in a hospital gown. She silently hoped she had been remade with clothes and that this place was an actual hospital and not something like Shinra's so called medical area that was suspiciously close to Hojo's lab. But more importantly, where was she and the white materia?

Keeping calm Aerith examined what she could. To the right of her bed was an end table with a bundle of flowers in a vase. The same type of flowers she grew in her church back in Midgar. There was a cupboard in the end table but it was out of reach from her position on the bed. On her left was a metal coat rack looking stand holding two IV bags that both were connected to her left arm. On the bed near her feet was a remote, likely connected to the underside of the bed, with three buttons on it; one big and red, and the other two blue arrows pointing up and down. She grabbed up the device and tapped the arrow pointing up which proceeded to raise the upper half of the bed. The down arrow expectedly lowered the now raised portion of the bed. The half Cetra pushed the round red button but nothing happened and she cast her gaze about looking for any sort of indication of what happened. Seeing nothing, she tapped the button again, holding for a few seconds wondering what it did. A few seconds rolled by and a blond woman in green scrubs opened the the curtain at the end of Aerith's bed.

"Oh!" The nurse sounded surprised "You're awake!" She then said with a smile "How are you feeling miss?" Aerith could now tell the woman was older than herself, maybe nearing middle age.

"I am feeling fine." Aerith answered with a smile and her stomach answered as well "Though a bit hungry and thirsty." she added with a soft chuckle.

The nurse gave a polite nod to the brunette "We'll get something brought to you right away, miss. Any preferences?"

"No, no. Anything is fine thanks."

"Alright. Just try to make yourself comfortable for now, please. Oh, and that red button is for calling a nurse over." The nurse gave another smile before shutting the curtain to give Aerith privacy.

The brunette lay back on the bed and closed her eyes to meditate and commune with the lifestream. She opened up her being and felt the physical world fall away as the voices of the planet surrounded her. During her three years, for lack of a better term, being dead she had learned how to easily enter this state. However, her human half did limit the ability making her need to focus and remain still while speaking with the lifestream. The collective spirit energy and knowledge educated her enough for her to know that full Cetra, like her mother, could speak to the planet at will.

As she slipped deeper into meditation she began to notice that this side of the lifestream was different. The flow was more calm and peaceful, gently weaving the spirit energy back and forth across the veil of life. Most likely this tranquility was due to no mako reactors or planetary threats, Aerith theorized as she observed. The peaceful atmosphere of this side of the lifestream made it easier for the departed to ease into death and the knowledge absorbed from them to be realized. But she was not looking to commune with the lifestream of Remnant, as astounding as it was to learn the lifestream went beyond Gaia. No, Aerith wanted to speak to Gaia, to Zack.

"Miss?" She heard a voice say from some distant corner of the world and continued to explore this unknown side of the lifestream "Miss?" The voice asked again, but it was louder this time "Are you awake?" The voice was male and broke her focus, making her get pulled back to her mortal body in an instant.

"Hmm? Yeah, I am." She answered softly while trying to shake off the effects of delving into the spirit of the planet.

The curtain opened to reveal a tall man with gray hair, small round spectacles, a green and black suit, a cane of sorts tucked under his arm, and holding a plate with a sandwich and cookies in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He offered a kind smile as he crossed the area to place the small meal on the bedside end table. Aerith could sense this man was wise, friendly, and above all, trustworthy. Although, it was doubtful he was part of the medical staff which raised a question of why he was here in the Cetra's mind.

"I heard you were feeling quite famished." The spoke softly as he pulled up a chair "Don't feel you have to wait for me to leave. We are waiting for my associate so eat up before the the questions really begin."

Aerith politely and quietly grabbed the plate of food and the man took a small device out of his jacket it looked like nothing more than a glass frame but it lit up after a moment. After about three seconds of staring at the strange device something in the back of her mind told her the device was called a scroll and how useful it was for just about everything. The Cetra nodded to herself and started eating. The food was quite good but that being said, this might be the first time she was having actual food in her life. The slums of Midgar never had any fresh food, as to be expected, and during the journey to hunt Sephiroth they mostly stuck to foods that could last a long time without being refrigerated. Aerith devoured the food on the plate and wished there was more.

Not long after she finished the curtain opened again to reveal a blonde woman with oval glasses, a fancy dress, and a stern expression. Behind the stern expression Aerith could sense the kindness and loyalty. She apologized for being late and shut the curtain then took up a spot next to the gray haired man and brought a larger version of the scroll and glided her fingers over it for several seconds before either spoke.

"So," the man said once the woman was finished with what she was doing "Why don't we start with your name, miss?"

"Aerith Gainsborough," she answered, continuing to use her adoptive surname and proceeding to spell it for the two strangers.

"Age?" The woman asked.

"Twenty two."

"Occupation?"

"I grow and sell flowers."

"Education?"

"Uh, home schooled." While Elmyra had done her best to educate Aerith, it didn't compare to a real school which there was a total of zero in the Midgar slums. But the young woman did have the knowledge of basically everyone that had ever died nearly at her fingertips.

"Combat experience?" The blonde was clearly more professional than the man.

"I can kind of fight with a staff." Aerith would be the first to admit that her fighting skills had always been rubbish, especially compared to her friends but she had been unrivaled in materia usage "Not that good at normal fighting." The two strangers shared a look.

"Yet you wandered deep into Grimm territory." The blonde stated. A few seconds later, Aerith received a mental crash course in what the Grimm were.

"Now, now, Glynda. Let's give miss Gainsborough a chance to explain herself." The man said kindly.

"I was heading towards the city but got lost after seeing some wild flowers I wanted for my garden." Aerith answered, lied, calmly. Best not begin with saying she is alien to Remnant. That might lead to some difficult obstacles later on.

Glynda looked down at the sitting man with a questioning look. The man returned the gaze and nodded silently to the blonde woman. She tapped the device nestled in her arm a few times and flipped it around to show Aerith. It was a security recording of an area covered in green grass and surrounded by trees. Nothing happened in the recording for several seconds then the picture glitches, pixelated, then was reduced to static. Nearly a minute later the picture returned but now in the area was Aerith laying on her back in a shallow pool of water.

"I do appreciate the effort to avoid explaining the odd occurance here but why don't we agree to be honest with each other now?" The man said kindly.

Aerith nodded to the sagely man but before she could speak a large black wolf looking monster wandered into view. It went over to the pool and the prone young brunette. It seemed to be investigating the odd scene, sniffing at the out of place water and person. As it's face drew closer to Aerith's peaceful form it set its foot down in the water. There was a bright flash and the beast was reduced to a cloud of dust that blew away in the breeze. Glynda shut down the recording and returned the device to her side.

"You were found by a group of students on a mission, which they had to abandon after locating you. The water you were in gave one of them second degree chemical burns even though he had his Aura active and you were unharmed." The blonde had a suspicious and nearly accusing glare leveled on Aerith "Your clothes were soaked with the liquid that turned out to be radioactive as well, though not a known radiation."

"It's the lifestream." Aerith answered simply "The source and resting place of all spirit energy. It heals and comforts good people and hurts those that have dark hearts." The man and Glynda shared another look "Its like the blood of the planet. Without it, everything would die."

"You're saying this water is sentient?" Glynda was beyond skeptical, the man in the chair was passive.

"The whole planet is alive. It brought me to Remnant to help fight the darkness spreading here."

Glynda was about to speak but the man raised his hand and the blonde kept her words to herself "One more question, miss Gainsborough." The man reached into his coat again, the other side, and pulled out a small white orb, the White Materia "What is this? It seems like an ordinary dust crystal yet no one can use it." Aerith chose to keep some mystery about herself alive. She did not exactly have any reason to trust anyone here yet but she would not let that stop her from being kind.

"That is all I have left of my mother. Its something that's been handed down through my family for a very long time." The man nodded and set the unassuming orb on the bed.

"Family and memories are something we must hold close at all times, especially so in times of uncertainty. To abandon either leaves fresh soil for the seeds of darkness to take root." the man said "I am professor Ozpin and you are currently in the infirmary of my school, Beacon Academy." He added and answered two questions Aerith had buzzing around in her head "We will permit you to stay here until you are recovered, so please take your time to relax and get rested." With that said he got up to leave and motioned for Glynda to follow him.

 **Later…**

Ozpin sat at his desk, fingers laced and eyebrows pulled in, listening to the gears turn as he thought. He usually took careful measures to never reveal his true emotions but the recent arrival of the young woman had him on edge. Normally he could anticipate the enemy's movement and set up a counter to at least mitigate the damage. This secret war being waged out of sight by a select few was not going well and it was getting to him. This new arrival could be a very risky gambit from the enemy or a someone that had stumbled upon the secret war. Either way he had to find out without revealing the secrets to her.

But there was a third option he really did not want to entertain. A third player in this game finally putting their piece on the board which raised alarming questions. Who are they? Why have they waited so long? Which side are they on? What are their goals?

His eyes flicked over to his scroll, which was displaying a read out of a test done on the white orb. The unassuming glass like white sphere was so much more than a family heirloom. In summary, the tests told Ozpin the orb was made of unknown materials, with unknown origin, and even held its own Aura but it had an incalculable amount. The machine used could register the amount of power the maidens had, no small feat. That small translucent white sphere that young brunette woman had with her was quite possibly the single most powerful thing on Remnant and yet, it had only acted like a common lifeless stone to everyone.

The door to his office opened to reveal his longtime friend and most trusted ally, Glynda Goodwitch. Usually she stormed into his office about one thing or another normally relating to students or his very lax way of managing his academy because she knew he preferred her being up front about such things. This time though, she was almost timid in the way she approached his desk. Today's topic was not one she could berate him about or even attempt to be forceful with.

"Ozpin?" She asked quietly and he looked up at the blonde "What are we going to do about Aerith?" The man with gray hair and spectacles spun his chair to look up at the shattered moon of Remnant. There was only one real thing they could do with this new piece on the board.

"We wait and be welcoming."

"Are you certain?"

"Glynda my dear friend, I'm not certain of anything anymore. I'm worried about this new player and how they so casually throw a game changer onto the field." Ozpin pulled off his spectacles to rub his eyes in frustration "What do you think of this move?"

"It is a calculated risk or an act of desperation." Glynda responded softly looking at Ozpin's reflected face.

"A move sure to win or the final hope from a player none knew was playing the game." Glynda could tell he was mocking her in his subtle way "No, this is a gambit to urge one side into pulling the trigger or throwing oil into the fire. Whoever Aerith works for does not just want someone to win, they want their victory to be absolute."

"So what do we do?"

"We play the game."

 **Please leave a Review and let me know what you think. Compliments, criticisms, thoughts, and if you want, let me know if there is something you'd like to see happen in this story.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Here it is. Sorry if it feels a bit rushed or the pacing is wrong.**

It became painfully clear that communicating with the lifestream of Gaia from Remnant is very difficult. Aerith learned this swiftly after trying her hardest to reach Zack but only succeeded in making herself pass out from mental exertion. She awoke the next day with a brutal pounding headache that made her nauseous and lay on her infirmary bed with her pillow on her face to block the lights. When a nurse came by to give the young woman her breakfast they exchanged a few words leading to the nurse returning with some over the counter painkillers. It took most of the morning for the headache to subside.

After that Aerith decided she was done laying in bed and pulled off the cord connecting her to the heart monitor and the IV needle out of her arm. First thing she did after standing and stretching was check the cupboard in her little area and inside were her clothes, though someone was kind enough to replace her boots, socks, and underwear. So she got dressed, tied her large pink bow around her braid and secured the white materia within. Aerith looked down at herself and thought that it may be time to retire the pink dress. It was getting ragged and it was the symbol of a different time in her life. She would have to go shopping once she was more comfortable on Remnant and had some money.

She walked confidently towards the exit of the infirmary and w nurse at the desk greeted her by name and handed over a scroll. Aerith just knew that Ozpin had set this up and she was happy about it. If the man trusted her, she would trust the mysterious older man back. The half-Cetra graciously accepted the scroll and slid it into the pocket of her red bolero jacket. In return the nurse said Aerith had to return in the evening so they could ensure she was healthy. A simple nod and smile of acknowledgement from Aerith later and she was stepping out into Remnant for the first time.

The bright shining sun met her first along with a light breeze carrying the sent of nature. She took her time looking around at the campus, examining the buildings, the impressive tower (though it did not compare to the Shinra headquarters), the courtyard fountain, then finally the arrangement of gardens. Aerith chose to inspect the gardens first since plants were the most in tune with the planet's health. The various flowers in the garden were quite healthy and growing very well with minimal human intervention, a very good thing to know in Aerith's opinion. Though she also thought some of them could use some maintenance.

"So you do have experience as a florist." Aerith jumped slightly, the muscles in her arms tensed, and her left hand raced down to grab her staff on reflex. The headmaster did not miss that reaction, he had been hoping for something along those lines.

Aerith wiped her hands off on her dress before standing and turning to face the older man "Nice to see you again, mister Ozpin." She greeted with a smile "I did say I grew and sold flowers."

"Yes you did, Aerith. But there are those that have a job yet have no experience with it."

"And there are people with lots of experience with a job they don't like." Aerith commented back to the wise man.

"Do you enjoy working with flowers?" Ozpin asked after making a mental note.

"Mhm. It is a very relaxing thing to do."

"I hate to be a bother than. Though there is a fair amount we still need to discuss." He needed to learn about this young woman. Needed to learn who she was connected to but there plenty of doubts in him about Aerith having any kind of connection to Salem.

Aerith on the other hand was already prodding the lifestream with questions Ozpin. She had to know if he could be trusted, her gut said he could be and that instinct was finely tuned from growing up in the Midgar slums but she had to be sure it was still a finely tuned sense after being in the lifestream. The need to be sure was only compounded by the fact that she was walking around with a magical super weapon in her hair and they had already tried using it, and if Shinra taught her anything it was that it was only a matter of time until they figured out how to use it unless she kept it hidden. Her concerns were put at ease as the voices of Remnant assured her Ozpin was a trustworthy man, so she took that to heart.

"What would you like to know? I promise to be honest this time, but I'm gonna sound crazy."

"There are times when crazy has more truth than logic. Its just not in human nature to accept something illogical as truth." Ozpin said with a gentle smile "If you ask Glynda, I'm the craziest man on Remnant." Aerith gave a soft giggle in response "Who are you, Aerith? What sets you apart from others?"

"I am only half human." Aerith was expecting Ozpin to react to that, even just a raised eyebrow, but he did nothing besides continue to meet her gaze and remain quiet "I am the last of a race called Cetra. Because of my mom, she was a full Cetra, I can talk with the lifestream."

"And the lifestream is where spirits come from and go back to?" Ozpin opted to sit on the grass beside Aerith as he spoke.

"Yes. It is made of all the knowledge of everyone who ever lived. It is the soul of the planet and it breathed life into everything alive right now."

"So you can talk to those that passed on?" Ozpin asked, mostly to get clarification on what Aerith was saying.

Aerith's first response was an uneasy smile "Kind of. When someone returns to the lifestream their knowledge and memories are kept but their being is absorbed." It was difficult to explain the inner functions of the lifestream to someone that had no knowledge of it in the first place "I can look for specific memories or knowledge and talk to them in a way. But its not like talking to the real person."

"Its like a recorded video of someone then. They are right in front of you talking and smiling but they are not really there. Not anymore." Aerith gave a shallow solemn nod to the headmaster of Beacon "I can imagine that such an ability has given you a unique outlook on the concept of death."

"Yeah." It was true, natural death had never bothered or troubled Aerith as much as anyone else because she knew for a fact that no one was ever completely gone. Her Cetra ability had allowed her to help many people in the slums find closure when a family member or friend had gone missing or passed away.

"You mentioned you were the last of your kind, you know that because the planet knew." Aerith nodded without meeting Ozpin's gaze "Where did you come from?" The headmaster was hungry for knowledge on the Cetra but could tell that was a dangerous path to go down with the last of the species.

"I was brought to Remnant through the lifestream from another world." Aerith answered honestly but yet again, Ozpin kept his expression calm "The world I came from is called Gaia and it was having a lot of trouble with fighting darkness spreading there. After two thousand years it beat the darkness and started healing." Aerith turned to fully face Ozpin "I was brought here by Gaia and Remnant to help in the fight against the darkness here."

The grey haired man wanted to doubt the young brunette woman but he could see in her eyes she was being honest. That could be a problem because if someone believed a lie, it was their truth. Nothing about Aerith said she was a sinister person but he could not be certain of anything in this war. Not to mention she is claiming to be from another world and being able to talk to the dead. The only possibilities in the eyes of the suited man is she is being perfectly honest and is correct or, and hopefully not, she is being honest but there is deep mental conditioning at work. So far he still had all his cards and was able to get her to play a few of hers but to make further progress he had to play one.

"I hate to say this but I can't say I believe your story." Aerith gave an accepting nod as if expecting that reaction and that surprised Ozpin "If you had proof of any this I would change my standing."

"That makes sense. Hard to believe a crazy person saying their from another world without any proof." Aerith said with a light giggle but a thought hit her. The White Materia. Could she prove her case with that? Make contact with Gaia?

"What about that white stone you have?" Ozpin asked curiously. He was playing a risky card here but he had to know about her and he had to know just what exactly would have that kind of absurd power.

It was now or never for Aerith to decide if she trusted Ozpin "It's uh… It's Gaia's first defence." That made Ozpin squint in confusion "It's called Holy. I really don't know much truth about it but it held back a giant meteor and stopped it from destroying Gaia."

Ozpin's skepticism could be felt in the air around him "I see." The man stood up and smiled down at Aerith "As I said before, you are welcome to stay here at Beacon until you are recovered from your trip but the semester will be beginning tomorrow."

Aerith raced to her feet calling out "Wait!" as she did. She grabbed Ozpin's hand and felt the white materia pulse with power.

There was a thump in her chest and the moment they, she and Ozpin, were in the white world. Standing near them was a young tanned woman with shoulder length brown hair, in a white tube top and white skirt. Though he most notable feature was the extensive scarring on her face. Behind her was a giant figure in armor and robes. Aerith recognized the armor and shield as Minerva's but the staff this figure had was far more like a spear. A giant ornate spear but still a spear. The giant's face was hidden under a helm that matched the rest of the armor that left Aerith questioning if it was Minerva or the Remnant version of her.

"Amber?" Ozpin breathed "No." He said sternly and turned his gaze on the other young woman "Is this your semblance?"

"Ozpin," the brunette with brown skin spoke "This wasn't her. I asked for this." The man in question was having a hard time believing this as was Aerith "But she is the conduit for this to happen."

"How can I believe this is not just some illusion caused by a semblance?" Ozpin said back, his calm voice carrying an edge.

Amber shook her head as a smile grew on her face "What is your favorite fairy tale?" that odd question to Aerith had a calming effect on the older man "You need to trust Aerith. She's not lying about who she says she is or the crystal she has. I've had time to talk about this with others in the lifestream."

"The life- so you have passed on?" Ozpin asked with dread heavy in his tone. Amber dropped her gaze to the ground and began wringing her hands.

"No. I'm uh, it's like I'm stuck."

"This child," the large figure said, its voice stern and feminine bit soft just like Minerva "Is unable to join the lifestream. Her body is being held in stasis and therefore unable to die regardless of the fatal damage it received."

Silence fell on the group of four for several seconds before Amber spoke again "Ozpin. I-" she was cut off by the white world vanishing in an instant snapping Aerith and Ozpin back to reality.

"What happened?" He asked the woman in the pink dress.

"I don't know. Maybe she got too tired to keep the connection up?" Aerith honestly was not sure but that sounded good to her.

Ozpin nodded and began to walk away back towards the school "I need to process this." He said over his shoulder.

He remain silent until he was at the elevator to his office. His hand hovered near the button to call the lift but he changed his mind and turned away. As questions and doubts buzzed through his head he walked through the currently empty halls of Beacon to the library. He was very glad that all this was happening before the new school year started so it was easy to keep things under wraps. Only that one group of students, seniors doing summer courses and missions, had to be talked to. Once Ozpin reached the library he went straight for the history section and began searching for books on ancient religions. He was a well read man and something about that figure behind Amber in that illusion was making the back of his mind burn. It took rampant searching through six large text books but he did eventually find what he was looking for. Right there in a photo of an ancient mural, a godly figure holding the exact same spear and shield, wearing similar armored robes.

After a quick read about this godly figure, Ozpin pulled out his scroll. He pulled up his conversation with a friend he had not spoken too in a while and punched in a new message.

 _Come back. Things have changed._

 **Please leave a Review**


	4. Chapter 3

Aerith looked around the dorm room she had been granted by Ozpin. It was very simple, the walls were bare, and there was an attached bathroom. Simple but comfortable. She sat cross legged on the floor back to her bed and looking into the room. The window overlooked the front courtyard of Beacon which made Aerith very happy as it let her easily see the gardens. But right now, the Cetra shut her eyes and opened her mind the lifestream. The past few nights Aerith had been searching for Amber, knowing she was a part of the mission to help fight the darkness but had been unsuccessful thus far. The flower girl from Midgar knew the students would be arriving today and was happy Ozpin agreed to let her stay as a gardener and someone for the students to talk to if they needed it, though the man had seem not himself since the encounter with Amber and the Minerva look alike.

During her first venture into the lifestream today, a knock on the door interrupted her. It turned out to be Glynda on the other side dressed far more casually than Aerith had seen before. Running shoes, jeans and a light sweater most likely over a regular shirt knowing how proper the blonde woman is at all times. There was a short conversation, without pleasantries, that involved Glynda handing Aerith a scroll and a brief explanation of it. Glynda also invited the foreign woman on a tour of the school with the added note that Glynda would like a demonstration of Aerith's abilities.

The tour was lengthy due solely to the fact that Beacon had a large campus and variety of places for the staff and students. It terminated in the central courtyard of the school, under the great tower that Ozpin called his office, and Glynda slipped her weapon, a riding crop of all things out of her sleeve.

"When you are ready, Aerith, show me what you know about combat. Don't hold back." Aerith was about to protest and Glynda must have sensed it because she interrupted "I am a huntress and more than a capable fighter, miss Gainsborough. Don't worry about hurting me." At that Aerith responded with a resolute nod.

But what could she do? She rarely fought things up close and when she did she had her staff. She had not trained herself to be a strong fighter, like most of Avalanche was, mostly because her and her adoptive mother had barely enough to eat never mind being able to bulk up. She always wondered how Tifa and Yuffie were so tough. And that got her thinking about a conversation with Vincent on this topic. The silent gunslinger had always told her to play to her strengths, master her talent. Thinking about Avalanche though brought up more memories about them. Meeting them, going on the journey, her death, watching over them from the lifestream. The lifestream, that was the answer. Aerith called up every memory she had of Avalanche and felt a pulse from the white materia in response and willed the power to unleash. Not a moment later a lifestream-green silhouette of Tifa appeared before her. It was mostly transparent but there was enough outline for the Cetra to know who it was and Aerith willed the silhouette to attack Glynda causing the Tifa image to race forward.

Glynda did not seem at all affected by the sight of the silhouette racing to attack her as she easily dodged the initial attack and retaliated by knocking the silhouette away. On the other hand, Aerith was amazed by what she did and wanted to know how far she could go. She began by calling up all the memories of Cloud she could find, quickly feeling something making her mind itch and finding more memories of Cloud, but these memories were not her own. Once again the pulse from Holy and a form of Cloud was being weaved from the lifestream in front of her. It was noticeably more solid than the Tifa silhouette but still had the lifestream-green color. The image of Cloud charged forward to join the Tifa image in combat. Now Glynda was surprised but still held her own.

Aerith watched the fight for a short time coming to the conclusion that the Cloud image was fighting better than the Tifa image. Cloud was more free and fluid in fighting while Tifa was stiff and robotic as if merely going through the movements. It gave the Cetra woman an idea. She had seen Cloud fall into the lifestream both times and how the lifestream had been trying to claim him both times. Arguably speaking, there was much more of Cloud in the lifestream than Tifa and that could be the difference between the two images currently fighting Glynda. But Aerith had to know for sure. There is two people in the lifestream she has plenty of memories to draw from but one of the two would be a horrible thing to summon. So she began to think of Zack.

How he towered over her, his spiky black hair, his goofy and charming smile, his shining eyes that held such a unique spark of life, strong and callused yet gentle hands, his rock hard muscles. Aerith felt a bit of a blush build in her cheeks and a pulse from the White Materia resulting in other memories of Zack flooding through her mind's eye. The childish SOLDIER helping anyone that needed assistance even with menial tasks, playing games with groups of kids around Midgar, even getting the other three SOLDIER First Class to smile and laugh. Those cheerful memories gave way to others of Zack on the battlefield. Cutting his way through soldiers, blood splashing and spattering around, cries of agony and fear, Zack blurring by bullets and blades as more soldiers fell, and Zack with a feral smile and a fire of madness in his eyes. The White Materia pulsed again causing Aerith's body to tense and a crack of thunder to be heard.

In front of the Cetra the ground cracked and split as watery wisps of black tendrils forced their way up. The tendrils began to twist and weave together losing their watery property and forming something. Black boots, black slacks topped by two black belts, a black shirt and a large black belt, black leather pauldrons, muscular bare arms with black gloves, a very large broadsword, and a head of styled black hair. Aerith spied Glynda off to the side, having just defeated the images of Tifa and Cloud, who now looked pale as a ghost. The human figure finished forming and turned to look at Aerith over its shoulder revealing a strange bone white mask with red designs, and two shining blue eyes peering out.

"Zack?" Aerith heard herself ask as he pulled the sword off his back. Right there on the handguard was the engraved SOLDIER emblem. No response was given as he charged at Glynda.

It came to light that besides the memories she just saw, Aerith had never seen a First Class SOLDIER fight, since Cloud did not count. It was actually frightening seeing one fight. Zack was inhumanly fast, striking too fast for Glynda to be able to counter and yet he was thrown back by some invisible force. In the brief moment she had, Glynda attacked fiercely but Zack dodged it. He threw his large weapon at Glynda, she deflected it with her invisible force, Zack caught it and slammed his fist into her gut. Glynda hit the ground hard a long distance away and Zack was already there to grab her leg to throw her through one of the large stone pillars lining the plaza. A powerful leap got Zack airborne above Glynda, sword drawn and racing down as if to cleave her in half but she was on her feet and out of the way in an instant, allowing Zack to drive his sword into the ground, fracturing it and leaving small impact craters at his feet.

Goodwitch is losing her patience and lifts several chunks of the stone pillar with her semblance to pummel the summoned humanoid attacking her. But she is shocked to see the male figuring cutting through the stone projectiles and still racing toward her. She manipulates the stones and hurls them at his back one gets a solid hit on his back, pitching him onto the ground as the other stones sail over his head. Expecting an opportunity to attack more Glynda swings the stones around only to see the figure rolling onto his feet and getting dangerously close. Now she was on the defensive again and soon the strange being would break through. A question rang through Glynda's mind over and over; What is this humanoid Grimm she summoned?

"Zack!" Aerith had called out yet again. Neither him nor Glynda seemed to hear her calling out but she had to get him to stop. No one on their own stood a chance against a First Class SOLDIER and the memories of Zack with that madness in his face had her blood running cold "Zack!" She tried shouting again. Using the materia to bolster her will she tried again "Zack! Stop!" and the former SOLDIER first stopped dead in his tracks, sword paused midswing towards Glynda.

The blonde woman had braced for a hit knowing this one would have taken down her aura but it never came. Her opponent stopped when Aerith called out, retracted his sword, did a fancy windmill spin with it and placed it on his back. And now he, it, was holding out a hand to shake. She could sense a smile behind that Grimm mask it wore but obliged the handshake with no small amount of caution. Then it reached up and pulled off the mask revealing a young, and handsome, man with two scars in a cross on his cheek.

"You said to not hold back." The young man said with a bright smile but Glynda was not in the mood. Aerith just reached them and was panting "Who are you? What are you?"

"Zack Fair, former SOLDIER First Class." He answered the blonde with gusto "And I'm uh, complicated right now."

Glynda gave a shallow nod and adjusted her glasses, which somehow stayed intact and on her face through the battle "Right. Aerith, thank you for the display." With that said, the blonde turned and left.

Zack and Aerith watched her walk away for sometime before either spoke or moved. Zack was the one to break the silence as he usually was back when he was alive on Gaia "Aerith! I can't believe-" he moved to pull the Cetra into one of his enthusiastic bear hugs but she moved away and refused to meet his gaze.

"I always knew and accepted you were a SOLDIER, Zack." Aerith's tone was quite grim "But I never thought…" she trailed off as those haunting memories came back.

The tall young soldier placed his hands on her shoulders "Aerith, that wasn't really me. It was some kind of side effect, or desired effect knowing Shinra, of the SOLDIER infusion. The more I fought, the more I wanted to fight."

Aerith turned her green eyes up to Zack's shining blues and placed a finger on his lips "Shh, shh, shh. Just promise me you can control it." Zack gave a smile and nodded bringing a smile to Aerith's face "You need to meet Ozpin now."

* * *

Ozpin sat quietly looking Zack up and down, his gaze lingering on the mask the young man held with each pass. He could see that his scrutinizing gaze was making Zack uncomfortable and felt that was best for now. Only a couple weeks ago Aerith arrived in Vale under suspicious circumstances carrying something like a dust crystal but with an absurdly powerful aura. And now, there is another suspicious character in his school, summoned by Aerith. If he had not seen it live via security cameras he would not have believed the claim. He did not like this at all. Two unknown people with unknown ambitions in his school and one allegedly from another world. And if Aerith was from another world this young man would likely say the same.

"Who are you?" Ozpin asked in a tone much less friendly than before with Aerith. Zack snapped to attention much to Ozpin's surprise though he did not show it.

"Zack Fair. Former First Class SOLDIER operative." He answered in the fashion of a true soldier.

Ozpin was curious about his snappy response "Where are you from?"

Zack did not hesitate "Born and raised in Gongaga, lived in Midgar while I was in SOLDIER."

"What is SOLDIER?"

"A division of Shinra's military force focused on superhuman soldiers created by infusing Jenova cells into people augmented by mako energy. The process results in stronger, faster, smarter, and more resilient soldiers."

Zack answered his question but it only gave Ozpin more questions so he pushed that aside for now "What world are you on?"

"Remnant."

"Are you or Aerith from Remnant?"

"No, sir. We both are from Gaia."

"Why are you being so forthcoming with this information when Aerith was determined to hide it?"

"Because you are in a war with darkness and we are here to help. Aerith though, she most likely had no idea who to trust. She grew up in a bad place. The slums of Midgar." Zack's ramrod posture relaxed into a sheepish curl as he spoke about Aerith "I'm more trusting of people because of my hometown and the fact that you run a school puts me at ease."

"For all you know this could be a cover for some truly dark operations." Ozpin said in a trained dismissive tone, encouraging the hypothetical. In response Zack let some of his jovial personality fall away to reveal the seasoned soldier underneath.

"Your eyes give you away, sir." Zack said in this most tired and regret filled voice Aerith had ever heard from anyone "They say the same thing as any soldier that has been fighting for what they believe is good and yet seen only the worst. You are tired of the conflict, good people becoming monsters, homes burning, and children wanting to be soldiers."

Aerith knew right there that all the horrors she saw in those memories of Zack, how he became an animal on the battlefield, were truly not of the real him. She always knew it hurt Zack to be sent into combat but there was never any clue about how broken he was inside. The only time she had seen any of the mess underneath the jokester facade was after Angeal died. But she was not the only one in the room that was surprised.

Ozpin had fallen back into his chair and tried to speak a few times, his mouth dumbly opening and closing several times as he considered Zack's words. Spot on with his claim and yet he seemed so young. How could a young man understand him so well in only a matter of minutes. These two newcomers, new game pieces in this conflict, were being underestimated. The sooner Qrow got to Beacon the better. Oz wanted to inform Ironwood and Qrow about these two but he wanted to avoid having to repeat himself but there was something he wanted to know.

"What does First Class mean?"

Zack gave a proud smirk, going back to his jovial self "First Class SOLDIER's were the best fighters in the world." He proceeded to go into a long winded rant about how great the First Class SOLDIER's were, once upon a time.

It gave Aerith and Ozpin a glimpse into a younger Zack, the boy that idolized the Firsts. The headmaster sat quietly and listened to Zack's rant that was complete with animated gestures, reminding him strongly of the current youngest student to be attending his school. However, it did surprise the older man how easily Zack pushed the misery to the back of his mind. Aerith was beyond flabbergasted at the speedy change. And as Zack went on, slipping into sharing stories about the other three SOLDIER Firsts, Ozpin came to realize he would like to meet Zack's comrades and his superior. Another thought came into Ozpin's head as he listened to Zack ramble on, he was as deceptive as a child caught red handed taking treats but if the stories were true, then he was also a nightmarishly fierce warrior.

Then there was the Grimm mask. Zack appeared with it on. That could not be ignored or forgotten.

"Zack," Oz stated to get his attention. The young man paused his ramble and looked at the headmaster "I want to hear about your experience on the battlefield." In response Zack gave a deep sigh and lowered himself into one of the guest chairs. It took a couple minutes for Zack to prepare himself and sigh once more.

The conversation went on for a long time and would have kept going if not for Ozpin allowing the two to excuse themselves for the evening. The headmaster went over everything he learned quietly and was glad to finally have a reading on the two strangers. If they had been honest then both had seen far too much conflict in their time. Aerith had a fear of people in positions of power because of this Shinra company, that heavily reminded Ozpin of the Schnee company, but Zack knew how to respectful. It had hurt Ozpin deeply to hear about Zack's friends, mentors, and idols succumb to madness and be the one responsible to put them down like rabid dogs. Though there was something weighing heavily on Ozpin, besides that Grimm mask, which had many similarities to that of a Beowulf, and it was something Zack had mentioned.

" _All of us in SOLDIER liked battle too much. Almost like we could sense the fear and misery in people and fed off it."_

 **Hope you enjoyed chapter 3. Yay for Zack and for Aerith learning some abilities! I hope I'm not making them OP… If I am, I'll correct it.**

 **I have a question for you awesome people. Should I include more FF7 people? A villain from FF7? Or just keep it simple with Zack and Aerith? I have a few ideas but like to know what the readers think.**

 **Please leave a Review.**


	5. Chapter 4

The sun had long since set and the new students were bedded down and should be going to sleep in the grand hall. Beacon is settling for the night yet there was one office that still had a light on though the shutters had been lowered. Ozpin sat at his desk flipping through multiple textbooks from the library, comparing and cross referencing. The elevator pinged and opened to reveal one of his most trusted, though greatly abrasive, associates.

"Good to see you arrived safely." Ozpin said with a nod as he shut the books.

"Sorry I'm late, Oz." Qrow reply as he made his way over to the desk and dropped into a guest chair "Ran into a bit of trouble on my way in." He swept his gaze over the books on Ozpin's desk and was unable to stop the chuckle that came up "Thinking about praying to a higher power for help?"

"Not at all." The grey haired man reply "But if what has happened is true, a higher power actually answered." It would take a blind man to miss the skepticism in Qrow's expression. Without hesitating Ozpin brought the profiles of two new teachers up on his holographic screen.

"Two new teachers? I know there is a lack of dedicated teachers Oz, but you don't have to thank a god for them."

The elder man shrugged off his friend's joke and cleared his throat "This is Aerith Gainsborough and Zack Fair-"

" I _can_ read. I'm not that drunk yet." Qrow chuckled as he leaned back in the chair, pushing it onto its back legs. Before Ozpin could respond to the sarcastic interruption, Glynda stepped out of the corner she had been working in and a large screen appeared above the desk showing a stern man with touches of grey in his black hair.

"Apologies for the late call, James." Ozpin said casually.

"Nothing to apologize for Oz. Glynda just sent me the files." James Ironwood, headmaster of Atlas Academy and General of the Atlas military only got a silent nod in response.

"Two weeks ago Aerith Gainsborough suddenly appeared in the emerald forest as you can see in the first recording." Qrow and Ironwood had identical reactions of confusion to the recording glitching then revealing the woman in the water. When the beowolf was obliterated by merely touching the water both men reacted with shock. "We were unable to collect any of that liquid but Aerith claims it is concentrated spiritual energy of the planet. The residue from her clothes proved it was highly radioactive but nothing could detect a specific type so I have no choice but to accept that as the most plausible answer for now because it gave a student chemical burns without contacting his aura."

"What?" Qrow asked, not quite following what the headmaster was saying. James seemed to be on the same page.

"The liquid passed through the student's aura unhindered and burned them."

"That shouldn't be possible." Ironwood stated quizzically as he rewatched the recording of Aerith's arrival.

"It's not possible." Qrow denied sternly "Nothing can just pass through someone's aura. If something like that got out, we may as well just go back to the time before dust."

"Why were you unable to get a sample of that water?." James questioned, his suspicion sneaking through.

"The water had evaporated or been absorbed into the ground. Either way, it was completely gone by the time we got someone back out there." Glynda answered.

"She was brought back to Beacon and was unconscious until the following day." Oz continued to keep this meeting moving "I ordered a physical exam of her and nothing unusual stood out, she is a regular human with an unlocked aura. However, she had this in her hands." The image on the screen beside the camera feed of Ironwood switched to a picture of the White Materia.

"Lemme guess," Qrow started "Not just a marble?" He nodded to himself as various information appeared next to the image.

"Unknown material, unknown origin point, aura- that thing has aura?" Ironwood sounded far more than taken aback.

"And not a small amount." Oz commented.

"How much we talkin'? Because any is too much for a fancy rock." Qrow had become very attentive to this meeting.

"Immeasurable. Keep in mind the machine downstairs can accurately read _her_ power." The expressions of Ozpin's friends slipped into a mixture of confusion and mild horror at his words.

"How big is this object?" James asked after a lengthy silence.

"One inch in diameter." Glynda responded promptly.

"Oz." James Ironwood spoke with a gruff tone, the man in question knew what he was going to say.

"Glynda and I did everything we could to get a response from the object but it was inert as a regular stone."

"Maybe only certain people can use it." Qrow suggested with a shrug, attempting to play detached and uninterested. His efforts were being wasted on the other three, his eyes spoke volumes of his intrigue.

"That seems to be the case so far." Ozpin conceded. He hated operating on assumption but so far with the strangers that's all they could do "Now onto Zack Fair. His appearance was far more strange than Aerith's." The second recording played further shocking Ironwood and Qrow.

"How in the-" James started.

"Just like a grimm." Qrow interrupted with a growl. His expression changed instantly into a scowl and it only deepened as the recording went on to show the fight between Zack and Glynda.

After the recording ended with Aerith calling out and Zack stopping mid-swing silence fell over the room. Glynda looked to be angry about losing the fight, Qrow was scowling at the screen specifically the mask wearing Zack, James looked to be deep in thought, and Ozpin was wearing his usual neutral expression. Zack's pure ferocity and drive to kill the blonde witch was not something to be taken lightly. He had been vicious and merciless in attacking and pushing through defenses yet it was obvious that he was not a savage, he had Hunter training. Though it was difficult to properly gauge his actual skill because he had been fighting someone that does not normally engage in melee combat.

"Oz. We need to detain these two." James Ironwood said stoically "If only because we can not allow a weapon like that crystal to be floating around."

"I will not allow that." Ozpin replied with absolute conviction "These two have unknown power and I am not going to potentially sentence anyone to death by aggravating these strangers."

"So instead you'll make them teachers?" Qrow sounded ready to beat some sense into the headmaster. At this moment, even Glynda was against her boss.

"It will allow us to keep a non-suspicious eye on their movements and under close guard." Ozpin defended.

"You're allowing an unknown grimm into our base! Have you forgotten what is here!?" Qrow shouted as he raced to his feet and slammed his hands on the desk.

"Aerith knows about Amber." The statement from the grey haired man shocked everyone. Even Glynda as this was the first she was hearing about this.

"You told her?" Qrow growled.

"Aerith told me. She claims to be the last Cetra and knows about Athena." The meeting fell into complete silence "You all know that there is no one outside of this meeting that could know all of that information. No living person." Ozpin's most trusted associates calmed down and returned to more logical thoughts.

"So what's the plan?" Qrow grumbled.

"As I told Glynda when Aerith first appeared. We keep playing the game. And you Qrow, stay out of sight and learn what you can about Zack and Aerith."

* * *

"So do you think you're ready to be a teacher?" Zack asked with a smirk as he watched Aerith explore the large desk in the corner of the classroom. He thought it was adorable that Aerith was going through the drawers and trying out the built-in terminal looking happy.

Zack decided to stick with his SOLDIER gear for now as it was comfortable and familiar. Aerith on the other hand got a whole new outfit; a pink tank top, white pants (which Zack loved because they hugged her form very well), knee high brown combat boots (the journey with Avalanche taught her the value of good boots), and her red bolero jacket as well as her several bangles. To Zack the new outfit made Aerith look more mature, like a real teacher. But she still had her single braid and large pink bow.

"I do have all the knowledge of the world, Zack." She quipped with a smile "But I'm still pretty nervous about this." Zack chuckled and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.

"You'll be great. You taught AVALANCHE how to use materia effectively, right?" Aerith gave a happy nod to the raven haired man "Well that can't be any more difficult than teaching teenagers."

"What about you?" Aerith asked in return.

"I did train rookies in SOLDIER and was taught by Angeal. I'll be fantastic!" He called out in response and planted his fists on his hips to look _heroic_ , as he liked to say "But uh, speaking of teaching, I better get to my classroom. See ya later!" Zack turned on the spot and took off as he realized what time it was.

He was lucky that a student opened the door before he reached it otherwise that student would have been hit with the heavy instrument. Twisting at the last moment he flew past them and through the crowd of students gathered at the door. For Zack and his inhuman reflexes there was no danger of running into anyone but for the students, it was far too close for comfort. As he raced down the hall and approached an intersection a group of four girls, blonde, black, black with red, and platinum, came running around the corner with the space between him and the group too small to go around them and they slid to a stop out of surprise. He made a snap decision to keep his momentum. He threw the SOLDIER sword ahead hilt first and dived over them, tucking into a shoulder roll to get back to his feet, catching his sword without looking and replacing it on his back. The girls stood frozen for a few moments trying to process what just happened.

"Did someone just-" Blake started to ask.

"Yep. And it was pretty awesome." Her partner, Yang, answered.

Weiss rolled her eyes and spoke in an annoyed tone "What a show off. He could have gone around us like a normal person."

"But we did almost run into him." Ruby, the team leader, countered.

"Did you see how fast he was going? He would have bowled right through us." Weiss argued back.

"Come on, we need to get to class." Blake stated to stop the impending argument.

"Yeah, I bet this Professor Gainsborough is some old grouch." Yang said with a sad tone. The blonde brawler was quite surprised when team RWBY entered the classroom and saw the teacher.

"She's so pretty." Ruby said without thinking as they made their way to some open seats. Blake made a sarcastic remark to Yang about being wrong that Ruby totally missed.

"Good morning class!" Aerith announced cheerfully "I am Aerith Gainsborough and I'll be teaching you other uses for aura. But let's start today with getting to know each other. We'll start over here," she pointed to a redheaded boy at the end of the row to her left "Tell us your name and something about yourself."

Aerith only half listened as the students spoke, taking the opportunity to reach out spiritually and gain a sense of the teenagers in the class. They were all powerful for their age but nothing special just yet, compared to what Aerith had encountered on Gaia. Most had the pleasant presence of hope and ideals, some had doubts and worry, the usual collection of adolescent emotion. But one stood out far above the others. Immense power with powerful hope and light of innocence coupled with the feeling of another presence just out of sight. For a brief moment emerald met silver as gazes locked.

"Uh, hi. I'm Ruby Rose and uh… I learned how to fight from my uncle." The silver eyed girl spoke softly. Aerith returned her gaze to the crowd.

"It is very nice to meet you all," Aerith said with a smile "I do hope this class will be enjoyable for you all. So to start, what can aura be used for besides as a shield?"

 **Meanwhile…**

Zack slid to a stop at the door to his classroom and took a breath. He was glad to see the double doors were shut and could hear a crowd of voices beyond it. Laying a hand on the handle he braced himself for a new bunch of rookies but hesitated in opening the door. A smirk grew as an idea popped into his head and he planted a palm on either door. The chatter in the room died when the doors flew open and crashed against the walls. Zack walked tall, head held high, hands balled into fists, and a schooled stern expression in place. He felt every eye on him as he marched down the stairs of the lecture hall and made his way onto the stage, turning to sweep his gaze over the students. A blond boy with blue eyes caught his attention, the way he cowered under Zack's gaze giving the SOLDIER a flashback to Cloud.

"I am Zack Fair." He announced in his best _officer_ voice "No, I am not a professor here to teach you with books and essays," the sighs of relief were impossible to miss "I am here to make you great warriors by tempering the bond between you and your partner through trials of fire. You will only fight members of your team in this class because only then will you understand their power and be able to fight alongside them to your fullest." Zack caught the blond boy looking to a girl with vibrant red hair with fear "If I catch any of you holding back in fear of hurting each other's feelings, you will both fail. Understand?" The class nodded nearly in unison "Now. In an orderly fashion, come up to the board and write your names, sorting yourselves into your teams and pairs." No one moved right away and the class looked around at each other waiting for someone to move "I said move, rookies!" Zack shouted and stomped his foot, unintentionally making a web of cracks appear in the stage.

Some may say his introduction was harsh and brutal but it's exactly what Angeal did with Zack's group of Third's. Make it clear that he would only accept the best, instill a small amount of fear, and then do everything he could to make sure as many as possible achieve their potential. When the blond boy was the first to stand and walk up to the board, Zack saw even more of Cloud in him. The raven haired SOLDIER mused that maybe the universe has a sense of humor by doing this.

* * *

 **Sorry for another short chapter but I hope you all enjoyed it.**

 **Please leave a Review.**


	6. Chapter 5

After the first couple of weeks, Aerith felt she was getting the hang of teaching. While aura was still a new topic to her it was not unfamiliar territory. Materia required the same skill of manipulating the inner force but made it easier to achieve the desired results. Not to mention, it was easier to teach the students as Zack said since they already knew how to manipulate aura into a personal shield. The first step was teaching them how to tap into the wellspring of aura within them because Aerith knew that the spirit had far more power to give than what a scroll said they had. However, the physical body could only handle so much, as she knew from experience and from Gaia. It was not hard for the Cetra to see that all of the students enjoyed her class, even if some of them enjoyed not having to deal with books and essays more than they appreciated the class. She was also consciously radiating a passive soothing effect with her aura to aid the teens in focusing. But it only helped her become more interested in Ruby Rose because of a form of feedback that normally would only happen through active repelling of the effect.

On the other hand, Zack almost felt sorry for some of his students. He did feel sorry for Jaune Arc. The blonde teen was hopelessly outclassed by his partner, Pyrrha Nikos, as revealed by her acting like Jaune was a challenge and he would not tolerate that. As his class was leaving, last class of the day, he called for them to stay behind. Everything about Jaune announced how nervous he was and Pyrrha was guilty. The blonde had no idea what was happening while his redhead partner knew exactly what was going on. Zack sat at his desk eyeing them like Lazard would eye him after any 'Zack Incidents' that came to his attention.

After a lengthy silence Zack spoke in his best officer tone "You know why you're here."

"Uh, I really don't." Jaune said quietly.

"I do, sir." Pyrrha stated "I was holding back." Jaune could not prevent his surprised look.

"Exactly. And what did I say would happen if I caught you?"

"We would both fail your class." Pyrrha had fallen from guilt to despair.

"Yes. You should have been wiping the floor with Jaune here." The blonde teen audibly gulped "But it is just stupid of me to expect a goodhearted person to not hold back against their friend. So you'll get a second chance on two conditions." he eyed each student attempting his best Sephiroth-ish piercing stare "First, make it a bit more believable Pyrrha. Second, training with me each evening from Monday to Thursday, Jaune." the blond teen nervously nodded and Zack dismissed them.

Once they were out of the room Zack took a deep breath and sat on his desk. It was exhausting acting like an officer but it needed to be done to train these kids. While he did not know much about Remnant, he knew enough to be certain that it was a brutal world fraught with danger. So in order to relax and pass time until dinner, Zack pulled out his scroll and started playing a game. He tuned out the world to focus on not dying in the game but after a long time he was snapped out of the focus on the game by the fine hairs on his neck standing up. The glowing blue gaze snapped over to a tall window but all he saw was a single crow sitting on the exterior windowsill. With a silent chuckle he shook his head and stood up from his desk.

"Soldiers really don't adjust to civilian life well. Getting watched by birds now." Zack laughed to himself as he left the classroom and heard his gut rumble.

Currently in the cafeteria Aerith had finished a small helping of today's dinner and was enthralled by a book she borrowed from school's library. It was one of many published books about Aura and Semblance and while it was in numerous ways nothing new to her there were a few bits of useful information in its pages. She was strangely comfortable reading a book in the cafeteria among the very noisy students, yet it's an alien feeling as well. The half Cetra was actually letting her guard down and starting to relax, she knew she really should not be getting too comfortable but it was difficult not too. Life had been a peaceful routine the last few days, something Aerith never had back on Gaia.

Aerith finished flipping through the history book and replaced it in the book bag she always carried with her now. While it was open pulled out another book, one on the history of dust. The strange powder with Materia-like properties for manipulating the elements is a very intriguing subject for the half-cetra and best Materia user out of Avalanche. Never much of a researcher or academic, most of what the pages were saying is lost of the half-cetra but one passage stood out to her.

 _Records show that many groups around the world had some understanding of how to use Dust but it is also documented mainly through ancient writings and murals that a nomadic people taught human and faunus alike how to better manipulate Dust. Legends and ancient writings both state this nomadic group was lead by a mighty huntress named Athena who became the focus of a religion for the next two centuries._

Her reading was interrupted by Zack sitting down next to her and giving her a one armed hug. She leaned into him and closed her book, taking note of his generous but healthy looking dinner. Not very surprising that he had a healthy diet since he was a SOLDIER. Aerith had a bad habit of snacking on sweets during the day but she thought she was allowed to treat herself after everything and considering everything to come. It was tough to deal with knowing there is a terrible tragedy on the way but they were living in the current moment. They two resurrected visitors to Remnant sat quietly enjoying each other's company until Zack started laughing to himself.

"Some of my students are finding it hard to believe I'm with you." Zack told her between bites. The SOLDIER hearing was truly astounding to Aerith. She couldn't even eavesdrop on the conversation behind them due to the noise.

"Why's that?"

"Well I make them think I'm a hard-ass trainer. And you're just so nice and sweet." Aerith could not stop the happy giggle "Not to mention beautiful."

Aerith moved to give Zack a kiss on the cheek and felt a pulse through the lifestream the moment after. Seconds later another pulse followed and soon after a surge of activity and energy. Something had happened. Nothing sinister or tragic. It ignited Aerith's curiosity and she was going to search for answers before going to sleep tonight.

* * *

He tried to walk but his body failed him and he collapsed again. With vision drifting in and out of darkness he lay on the ground waiting for his body to respond. It was no surprise his broken and twisted body is reacting poorly to being resurrected, just as Minerva said. His muscles felt atrophied, his mind clouded with fatigue, and senses simply were not working. _'I will recover soon.'_ Was the lie he is forcing himself to believe for now. So once more he forced himself up onto his feet and shuffled a few more meters ahead before his legs failed once again. With his body screaming for rest he pushed himself up yet again and the hairs on his neck stood and something deep inside him stirred in reaction to a dangerous presence. He was happy to have that ally still with him.

The beowolf had been stalking this man for nearly an hour, intrigued by the presence of a soul but not detecting any fear or worry. Oh how it hungered for his flesh but the lack of fear could be a trap. Again the human fell to the ground and again it got back up. Eventually the hunger became too much for the beast and it lunged. Instead of a satisfying meal the beowolf was met by claws and fangs.

Disgusting yet tempting. The most foul tasting prey he had ever encountered in both lives and yet he wanted more. While not a preferred kind of meat it served its purpose. He was no longer starving and felt some energy returning to his powerful muscles but more is needed. The owner of this form was asleep so for now he was free. Free to run and explore, hunt and feed, as much as he wanted. And off he ran into the night to find more food.

* * *

Aerith could not make sense of the incoherent whispers from the lifestream. Some spoke in fear of what caused the surge of activity last night while others praised it proudly. She knew she should be searching for answers or be telling Ozpin about what happened. But her protective boyfriend insisted she get some breakfast first and mull over what she knows so far. The cafeteria was buzzing with activity nearly as loudly as her head. It is astoundingly more difficult to tune out the lifestream when it's being noisy on Remnant. Once Aerith had a tray with a plate of pancakes, bacon, and a mug of tea, (Zack had the same selection of food, just more of it) she made her way to one of the more empty corners of the hall with Zack on her tail.

As they walked, Zack's smile faded and it became obvious he was listening to something. The half Cetra had no idea what he locked onto as she is unable to see through the crowd of students. They found a seat and set down their trays and Zack continued to eavesdrop while he ate. Halfway through their breakfast Zack set down his utensils, stood up, and marched up the hall. Aerith remain in her seat but kept an eye on him and as he walked more and more students started watching him as well. With curiosity getting the best of her Aerith stood up and stepped on the bench just in time to see a boy tugging on a girl's hair. After a second, she corrected herself when she saw one large rabbit ear and figured the boy was tugging on the other. Zack strode up behind the boy and grabbed the scruff of his shirt and jacket, the boy quickly spun and punched Zack in the jaw. The following silence was crushing in the hall.

The boy that punched Zack had a look of confusion until the SOLDIER's fist collided with him, knocking the boy to the floor "Lesson one rookie. Always be on your guard." Aerith lost sight of the scene as the other students crowded around "Lesson two," Zack said as he used his boot to shove the boy back down when he tried to stand up "Always hold firm to your honor as a hunter. But it looks like you'll need to have honor beaten into you, _boy_." Zack made sure to make the final word an insult "I will see you in my classroom at five, Monday to Thursday until you are no longer a cheap thug." The boy in question, Cardin Winchester, moved to stand up but Zack kicked him down again "Did I say you could stand, _rookie_?" the black haired soldier pulled his scroll from his pocket to read a message "You can stand when I leave the mess hall." With that, he turned and walked away. He passed Aerith and departed the hall through the front doors, the Cetra standing to follow him. It was dead silent even after the doors shut behind them.

"Zack?" Aerith prodded.

"He was harassing a faunus girl. Treating her like some kind of freak." The pain in Zack's voice told Aerith all she had to know. After what he went through with Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth, it is hard to blame him for reacting in such a way to discrimination against the faunus. They traveled in silence up to Ozpin's office where the headmaster and his right hand woman were waiting.

"Mister Fair, miss Goodwitch and I are the ones that handle the discipline of students here at Beacon." Ozpin said plainly.

"Apologies sir, but I refuse to stand idly as people are treated like freaks. Regardless of social norms or the political views of my superiors." Neither administrator missed Zack's veiled insult.

"You should watch what you say Zack. You and Aerith are guests here and not exempt from punishment." Glynda retorted.

"Then fire me. I'd rather not spend my time working for people that claim to be advocates for equality and warriors for the light but then happen to look the other way when a boy from a wealthy family begins harassing a girl." Zack's words cut deep if the indignant looks on Ozpin's and Goodwitch's faces were any clue but Zack's mind had drifted away into another time, another life.

"Are you-!" Glynda took a challenging step forward but was halted and silenced by a calm glance from her boss.

"Mister Fair. I won't presume to understand what life on Gaia was like but I can assure you, you are seeing Remnant in black and white when it is shades of gray." Ozpin said calmly, as usual, but the ghostly hint of his eyebrows being pulled together betrayed the underlying anger "Things are rarely as simple as they first seem to be and as warriors of the light, we must carefully pick our battles. Not only is there an out of sight war being waged, there is a social revolution begging to be ignited into a global conflict." The headmaster could see his words affecting the alien man, anger bleeding out of his body language and being replaced with remorse "We are the good guys here at Beacon. Each and every student is picked because of their abilities, character, and their life. Some need to escape something or be shown what there is to live for."

Zack pinched the bridge of his nose "Fight for the greater good," he muttered under his breath "Can't save everyone."

"The girl in question, Velvet Scarletina, could have easily bested team cardinal right then and there without any aid. She chose not too." Glynda added "So if you are done accusing us of being amoral and bribery enthusiasts, you are dismissed."

Zack was busy examining the fine details of his boots "I'm sorry." He forced himself to say "Life on Gaia… it was hard. Left a lot of scars." With that said Zack sheepishly turned and walked away.

Aerith watched him go to the elevator and notice that Aerith had not followed "I uh, just wanted to tell you…" she felt awkward in the aftermath of an argument, under the discerning gazes of the educators "The lifestream was acting up last night. I dunno what happened yet but I will find out." She gave a polite bow then made her way over to join her boyfriend in the elevator.

Once they were out of sight and the elevator began descending Glynda turned her gaze on her boss "So? Any word yet?"

"They barely leave the school grounds." Ozpin cited one of the reports from Qrow "Aerith leaves to find flowers and Zack follows like a dog. She only uses her scroll to look up books in the library and he uses it for games." The older man leaned back into his chair "If these two are working for _her_ they are either the greatest agents we've ever encountered or completely oblivious of anything until they are called on."

"Do you really believe that?"

"No." He quickly answered "Zack is smarter than he let's on but is too emotional. While Aerith is not as smart but far more wise. What I see to be a problem in the future is they are both very perceptive."

Goodwitch digested his analysis and asked the question she was nearly contractually obligated to "What should we do?"

"Let them be for now."

* * *

He had been running for days on end now. At first it was fun, being free to run, hunt, feed like he once did before the humans. But it all went bad just a few days ago. Back in the green forest he picked a fight with a few of the beasts that looked similar to himself. While the initial three had been no problem at all, the real trouble started with a howl as he was eating his fill. His power had returned from devouring the strange dark beasts and fighting off another six of the wolves proved no issue. But the ensuing onslaught of strange wolf beasts would be far too much.

So he was on the run. The human he shared the body with had awoken but chose to allow him to retain control to run. All four limbs pounded the ground as he ran, his tongue hung out of his mouth, the shiny claws on his left hand tore at the earth, and the cloth on his waist flapped as he sped along. He didn't need much water or food to keep going but neither did the dark wolf beasts. But the need for rest had been gnawing at him for two days and the worry he felt back in the green forest had turned to desperation a day into the red forest.

The easterly wind brought a new scent to his nose and faint sounds to his ears. Back in his original life, his senses were unrivaled and he was desperate, so he turned sharply into the wind. Maybe the source of the scent and sounds would help. Maybe they would help the human. Human language met his ears as he got closer, as did the sweet scent of sap and the bitter scent of dark beast blood. Soon after he broke the treeline into a clearing and he saw a bundle of human supplies, locking onto the water bottles. With caution thrown to the wind days ago he padded over to the supplies, grabbed a water bottle, bit through the top, spat out the cap, and drained the liquid. Water was the greatest tasting thing in his life, enjoying it pouring over his tongue, sliding down his throat to his stomach, cooling him the whole way down, and he drained three more bottles.

His ears flicked towards more human words, much closer this time, and his gaze followed. Lots of young humans, one spattered with dark beast blood and another with the sickly sweet sap, and a mature human female. All with weapons and a clean scent, besides the hint of foul dark beast blood. They spoke to each other, the mature human establishing herself as the alpha through loud speaking. He barked at her then decided to drain a fifth bottle of water and begin searching through the human supplies for food. But the howls sounded. They were still coming.

He dropped the packaged sandwich he had found and spun around to face the howls. Between the crimson plant life and the dark trunks of the dense forest it was hard to see the oncoming horde of beasts but his eyes could catch the flashes of bone white between the trees. He growled and focused his power, waiting until the beasts reached the clearing. Just before the could break the treeline, he threw his paws forward to unleash the power. Human yelps graced his ears as the balls of energy hit the trees across the clearing and exploded into hot hungry flames. Some beasts howled in agony and others broke off the group to circle around the flames. Mechanical noises and steel grinding against steel grated his eardrums but he knew it was humans getting ready to fight the dark beasts.

The following violence was a bloodbath. Beowolves were broken, sliced, smashed, shot, exploded, and ripped. Glynda allowed herself to fall away from the front line, thinking this could be a great learning experience, opting to support the many teams of students by using her semblance to keep them safe from unseen attacks and friendly fire. As glad as she was to see the four person working well she was disappointed by the lack of cohesive strategy between the teams. But overpowering those views was her worry about the strange beast ripping apart the beowolves. It clearly is not a Grimm but is nothing like any other animal. It fought like a trained warrior, devoured the pieces it tore off with its teeth, and had clothes on. She knew form altering semblances were possible, just very uncommon, so it stood to reason that this wolf beast is a hunter.

With dead beowolves littering the clearing and the students unharmed, Glynda turned her attention on the hunter that brought the horde. Still as a wolf and scanning the area but just seconds later its shoulders slumped and its head dropped. Shadows very briefly shrouded the beast from sight and a moment later in its place is a tall slim man with the same cape (just longer), dark clothing, the clawed golden gauntlet, and gold plates on his boots. He looked at Glynda and nodded politely.

"I apologize for bringing the danger your way and am very grateful for the help." He said with no emotion in his gravelly voice.

The professor did her best to ignore the students gaping at the man and speaking in hushed voices "Who are you?" Her stern gaze and threatening tone did nothing to effect the man.

"Vincent Valentine. I was on my way to Vale when I ran across them," he dipped his head towards a dissolving beowolf. The gunslinger hoped he sounded like his usual trained and neutral self from Gaia because his mind is still a muddled mess of information Minerva had to force into him.

"You chose to walk to Vale from wherever you began?" The blonde had always been a skeptic and suspicious of strangers.

"I appreciate the peace and practice the wilderness offers." Vincent had always valued being an honest man but also knew how important it is to hide certain information "I also prefer to stay off the grid." Glynda gave an acknowledging grunt in response, keeping her stern green gaze on Vincent "If I may ask, which way is Vale from here? I got turned around during the last couple days."

"South." Goodwitch answered curtly biting off the word.

"Thank you." Vincent dipped his head politely and turned to start walking south "I apologize for taking some of your supplies." He said over his shoulder.

The students and professor Goodwitch watched the mysterious man walk into the forest. Yang chuckled to herself and leaned down to whisper to her sister.

"Looks like your style is getting popular." Ruby smirked at her sister's comment.

The young reaper's gaze was fixated on the strange man. His mere presence had been sending chills down her spine and setting off all kinds of alarms in her head, though she had no idea why. Instincts wanted her to both run far away from the man and attack him right then and there. She had been getting the same rush of instinct alarms whenever she got close to mister Fair back at Beacon and now she wondered if there was a connection between the two men.

But those thoughts aside, Ruby turned to her team and gave a cheerful little "Yeah. Capes are awesome. All dramatic and stuff." Weiss rolled her eyes and Blake raised an eyebrow. Yang agreed and gave a high five.

. **And done. Hope you all enjoyed this one. Please leave a Review.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Here's another chapter for all you lovely people! And a fun fact, Aerith's official height is 5 feet 3 inches (160cm) and Zack's official height is 6 feet 3 inches (185cm). Fun to compare that on the official RWBY height chart.**

 **Apologies for any/all errors that slipped by me.**

So many voices. All talking at once forming a soft cacophony of inaudible words. But she was looking for one particular voice, the voice of the girl between life and death. She called the name and let it ripple through the sea of voices. For the first time in weeks, Aerith had a visitor in her personal field of flowers. Her visitor, the girl with the scarred face, was once again accompanied by the being that looked like Minerva.

"Amber!" Aerith greeted "How are you holding up?" the half Cetra wanted to hit herself for asking such a stupid question. You don't ask someone who knows they're dying how they are.

"As well as I can I suppose." The girl responded awkwardly "But I'm guessing you aren't doing this for smalltalk."

"No. I want to know if you know where you are." Amber's gaze dropped to the false ground covered in flowers in response.

"I don't. But I know Ozpin comes to visit me often."

"I wish I knew where you were so I could try to heal you." Aerith said while gently cradling both of her hands in a comforting manner "I know I could help you but I know Ozpin doesn't trust me enough. Is there anything I can do to make him trust me?"

Amber shook her head and looked into Aerith's bright green eyes "I don't know. Ozpin is slow to trust people because of the secret war. It makes it really hard to find allies." It was Aerith's turn for her expression to fall "He will trust you in time though. I know he will."

"Thank you. For believing I'm on your side." Silence fell between them for several moments before Aerith looked at the large figure "Who are you?"

"I am Remnant's voice." the feminine figure answered. Aerith berated herself for not thinking that.

"Do you have a name?"

"This form was once called Athena but it has been many eras since we were called such."

"You were forgotten." Aerith breathed "People are forgetting the light."

"As the light fades, the Grimm become stronger and increase in number. But to balance, the light shines more intensely as the darkness envelops it."

Aerith knew this to be true. Gaia had been on the edge of being devoured for many years but several individuals had refused to bend, refused to let darkness consume them. She believed herself and Zack to be the ones to light the fire of hope within Avalanche. But she knew that even if they had been the flint and tinder, Cloud and Tifa had been the fire. Somehow, they had ignited the hope in others and inspired them to stand against a vastly stronger foe. But who would play that part on Remnant? Ozpin was trying hard to keep the light burning bright, but could that be the problem? Was the light burning up too quickly right now?

"Child of the Cetra, you have the right thoughts but there is nothing you can do yet but prime yourself and others." Aerith forgot that her thoughts were not secret to the lifestream while in this mindscape "We can feel the darkness building strength, readying for a large movement. Find the flame, do all you can to stoke their spirit."

It hurt greatly. Aerith knew from the start the darkness was coming but now the knowledge was far more visceral. Knowing many were doomed to death before the actual fight would begin. It took two thousand years and countless deaths to set the stage for the decisive battle against Jenova.

"Hold on, Amber. I will find you and help you." She said with a determined gaze. The girl smiled in response.

The dorm came into view as Aerith opened her eyes. A shirtless Zack toweling out his hair met her sight a second later and her bright green eyes traveled over the many, many bullet wound scars on his torso. A young man with a dream to be a hero, one of the greatest people she had ever met and yet, destined to die so the light would burn bright in the one truly destined to beat back the darkness. How many others were like Zack? Genuinely good people that would be dragged through hell only to die so another would be inspired to fight and win. Was she sent to Remnant to be a martyr? Could she accept that fate again?

"So I was thinking we should head into Vale today." Zack mused, pulling Aerith out of her thoughts "It'll be nice to get away from Beacon for a while. Go out and explore for a while."

Aerith nodded and got up from sitting cross legged on their bed "How has training with Jaune been going?" She asked while grabbing some clothes.

"Oh really good. Pretty sure he hates me for all the bruises but he has hugely improved." Zack said with a proud tone as he put on a shirt "He actually reminds me a lot of Cloud, besides being taller than him." He laughed "So awkward and shy but acting all tough and outgoing." The former SOLDIER leaned against the desk in room and watched Aerith get dressed "Anyone in your classes that stand out?"

"Ruby Rose." She did not have to think about that "Her aura is so much different from the others." She fastened the button on her jeans and grabbed her bolero jacket, stuffing her scroll into the pocket "It's like, there is more of it hidden out of sight."

"Maybe she's not all human." Zack suggested with a shrug "Not, not all human like me. Not all human like you."

"You think she's half Cetra?" Aerith asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I dunno. Just kinda throwing words up the air." He said with a chuckle as he made his way to the door now that Aerith was dressed.

The brunette chuckled as well but she could not shake the thought of what Zack said. Could it be possible? Even though she was one, Aerith never had any experience with a Cetra. She would not have any clue as to how their aura would feel, how it would be different from humans. That being said, faunus auras were no different from those of humans.

* * *

It was a strange experience, being short of breath. Even sweating felt foreign. Vincent had stopped within sight of a road leading up to a city, if the very large billboard announcing Vale was several miles further was to be believed, to rest of all things. When his breathing became shallow, his clothes became moist and began to stick to him, he paused his journey mostly out of worry, thinking something was weakening him. Out of reflex he put his right hand on his chest and felt a sensation that he had gone thirty-three years without. The heavy thumping of a living heart. He realized why the Galian Beast had been so cheerful since he had regained control back in the red forest, both of them would be able to feel, well, anything again. No longer a walking preserved corpse. But it also worried him to be alive again.

He had been pondering this for an hour now. As an undead, he never needed to eat, drink, sleep, tend to a call from nature, or worry about pain. Chaos and the protomateria made it so any damage to him would be repaired swiftly, so not even injury was a concern. In return, he was unable to feel anything. Tired, hungry, hot, cold, pain, and neither could he taste. It was as if all his nerves had died, and mostly likely they did, and soon after his emotions became subdued. But now he was alive. A fresh living body with the power to shift into the Galian Beast and feel again. Minerva had brought him new life and unfortunately, all of its negatives. He could be hurt, he could be killed. Strange to be faced with your mortality after thirty years of being near invulnerable.

Vincent rose to his feet and walked onto the road leading to Vale. The words from Minerva burning in the back of his mind, dictating his mission and his reward. A cruel task but it had to be done and if he was unable to do it, perhaps the Galian Beast would take over and see the objective completed. Perhaps Minerva would force Chaos back into his body to ensure the mission was successful. He knew Chaos would be a last resort, merely sending the demon to Remnant would result in the deaths of thousands, he knew that for certain.

On he walked, passing travellers going to and from the city, lost in thought. His mind drifted through all manner of topics, memories, regrets, his mission, but it always returned to being alive and being able to feel again. A grumbling stomach made it hard to not think about being alive again, and reminded him the last meal he enjoyed was a picnic with Lucrecia. Part of him was looking forward to trying the food of Remnant and a much bigger part was falling into a spiral of dark thoughts. It halted though when he thought back to that brief time he was in the lifestream after slamming into Omega. It had only been a moment of being completely vaporized but it felt like hours in the lifestream, hours he spent talking with Lucrecia. She had been dead for decades but the materia in that cave preserved her body and gave her spirit an anchor to persist, a gift from Chaos of all things, and because of that she had able to watch over him and her son. Lucrecia had told him to embrace his new life and move on from her, and he would, after this mission, after he returned to Gaia.

As he drew closer to the walls of Vale he spotted something of a border crossing. Very large security doors, armed people checking the phone-like devices he had seen on every traveller, bags, and carts. He could veer off the road and use his abilities to get over the walls but he would be seen, since it's the middle of the day, and instantly labeled some kind of criminal. So he chose to instead gamble with regular entry. So he patiently waited in line and received far fewer sideways looks from the random people than he expected. He assumed it was either people knew how to keep to themselves or outlandish appearances were fairly normal on Remnant.

He heaved a sigh of relief when it was finally his turn. His outfit was not kind to him for standing in the sun and his stomach is getting relentless. The guard asked his name, the gunslinger reply with his actual name, no need to hide his true name. The guard eyed Cerberus as he tapped away on the device he held.

"You're not in the system." The soldier drawled, telling Vincent this was not uncommon and it annoyed him to deal with this scenario "What is your business in Vale?"

"Visiting an old friend."

"Name of your friend?"

"Ozpin." One of many names that had been forced into his head during his rising on Remnant. The guard rolled his eyes at the name.

"Present your scroll for registration."

"I lost it during my trip. Looking to get a new one." If the uniformed man drooped his shoulders anymore, they would fall off.

He lifted his arm in a polite indication towards an open door beside "Please step inside to fill out the forms needed for a visitor."

The cloaked man nodded his thanks and fought back a smirk. Almighty paperwork to separate the regular folk from the truly dangerous. It would take a real criminal mastermind to bluff their way through bureaucracy. Though he was embarrassed to be caught off guard by two boxes with simple requests: Age and Birth Date.

* * *

"I am so sorry! I'll get you new drinks right away!" The young waitress nearly cried as she turned and nearly ran back behind the counter.

Zack assured her it was fine and continued to use the stack of paper napkins to dry himself. He and Aerith had stopped at a café for lunch and the waitress trip over a dropped cane from an older man and wound up drenching Zack with a mix of water and iced tea. His SOLDIER enhanced reflexes saved the glasses. Aerith laughed, he laughed, others stared in bemusement.

"Can you believe that this isn't a rare thing for me?" Zack said with a smile.

"You get drinks spilled on you a lot?" Aerith asked while trying to stifle aftershock giggles.

"Well Genesis had a habit of dumping water on me when I started to annoy him. But yeah, I've been hit with a lot of dropped drinks over the years." Once he stopped dripping he rested his arms on the table "I've had a lot of random little bad things happen to me though." Unknown to them an old bird on a nearby rooftop got nervous "Kunsel always said my bad luck was to balance out my incredible ability to make friends with anyone."

Their new drinks arrived with the food they ordered and it turned out to be a rather pleasant lunch for them. Both had been greatly enjoying having a relatively normal relationship and life. Months of being with each other and living by routine, something that would drive most to their breaking point but a wonderful treat for the two from Gaia. When they were done, they paid their share of the bill and set off on a seemingly aimless walk through Vale. Zack was subtly leading Aerith towards a shop he found during one of his solo ventures during the the night. His SOLDIER physiology made it hard to sleep for more than six hours each night so it lead to many midnight runs.

Upon arriving in front of the shop, a simple looking place with no display window and a plain sign that said Tom's, Zack asked Aerith to wait and ducked inside. The half Cetra woman watched the people go this way and that, and city workers setting up all kinds of decorations for the coming Vytal Festival. She was excited to the tourists from other lands and wondered what kind of events would happen during the festival. Parades? Dances? Maybe a tournament of some sort? Perhaps she was thinking too much about more dated festivals. She had never personally been to one but had read about them. A sigh slipped past her lips while she waited and began to grow bored and she lean against the wall. Briefly she considered pulling her scroll out and playing a game but almost as soon as she reached into her pocket Zack emerged from the shop holding a short rod.

With a bright smile he held out to her and twisted the middle of it causing the ends to spring out. The rod went from two feet long to five and revealed an array of chambers that were very akin to materia slots. Aerith cautiously took hold of it and felt it was very light, a comfortable width in her hands and a good height. He had bought her a staff and it felt like having a favorite piece of clothing returned to her. While never a melee fighter, she had learned how to defend herself from simple attackers while living in Midgar. Very few criminals were not dissuaded by a hard hit to groin with a steel pole.

"So?" Zack asked with a ghost of doubt, seeing her bright emerald gaze linger on the weapon. She gave him a smile and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you very much."

"Thought you might like to have a weapon again. And you can train with me. I have no idea how to fight with a staff but I'm sure someone does and I'm a really good punching bag." Zack bragged, though it was a curious thing to brag about, being a punching bag.

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Aerith stated honestly.

"And maybe you can show what you can really do. I get the feeling you hide a lot of power behind that innocent face." Zack teased while poking Aerith's nose.

"Maybe." She reply while twisting the middle as a test. She was satisfied when the staff collapsed into the compact rod "We'll see. Though I should see how rusty I am." She held the rod in one hand and grabbed Zack's with the other, lacing their fingers "I want to check out a bookstore or two before we head back." And on they went to find a bookstore.

* * *

Hunger is such a burden.

That's what Vincent said to himself on repeat for the past two hours. His stomach groaned loudly as he found his way around Vale. After finishing his "Guest Hunter" paperwork he had asked about Ozpin and was directed toward Beacon Academy. So now he was trying to find his way, slipping through crowds ignoring all conversation noise. Keeping so focused on his mission was helping to subdue his hunger but it would crack his mental wall now and again. Yet on he walked without a thought about what people may think or his current level of stealth.

After three years of being in complete control of his senses and by extension his emotions, Vincent felt overwhelmed by all the scents and sounds. As he walked through downtown Vale he occasionally found his gaze wandering over people though not as a search for concealed weapons or threat appraisal. With renewed life came a renewed libido and he hated it. After the fourth time his gaze involuntarily locked onto a woman's rear he forced his gaze forward and kept it fixated on the top of the crowd. That proved to be hazardous as he walked right into someone shorter than he and knocked them over.

His crimson gaze found a small girl sitting on the ground staring up at him, her expression annoyed with a hint of worry in her mismatched pink and brown eyes that matched her two-tone pink and brown hair. Vincent leaned and offered his non-gauntlet covered hand to the girl which she refused in favor of picking up the dropped shopping bag. The gunslinger chose to instead grab her dropped parasol and immediately noticed its odd weight. Much too heavy for a regular parasol but he handed it over without issue. Once on her feet and all gathered up, her very small stature a surprise to Vincent, the girl offered a smile and light bow to the man who returned a polite bow of his head. And without a word spoken, they passed by each other to continue on their ways. The Galian Beast was acting up, making Vincent wonder what got his attention since the beast only got excited by battle or an obvious threat. It made him miss Chaos a bit more because at least the demon could speak, though it preferred not to.

Not too much later he found his way onto a airship headed to Beacon, if he recalled the directions to Ozpin correctly. The flight was not long and soon he was in open air again and bearing witness to a huge number of young adults, and teenagers, being themselves around the pristine gardens/plaza of Beacon academy. Some play fighting, some throwing a ball around, many strolling or sitting to talk in groups, others reading books or from their scrolls, a couple thinking they were hidden in a tree, and a group using an assortment of weapons that clearly were not their own. The best part, in Vincent's opinion, not one person gave him a second look. Felt strange to be dressed so oddly and yet still be just another one in the crowd.

Gut instinct told him to enter the structure at the base of the clock tower and he was glad he did. A sign on the wall next to an elevator proudly announced that this Ozpin was at the top. The panel next to the elevator, with the call button, indicated the lift was descending and as a test he pushed the call button prompting the panel to display TAP SCROLL. He was not surprised in the least and patiently waited. When the doors opened they revealed a slim young woman of average height with blue hair carrying an armload of books but the gunslinger took note of the scroll sticking out of her left pocket. He politely stepped to the right side and gingerly stole the scroll off her, being able to pickpocket was one of the staple Turk skills back in the day. With a quick tap to the inside panel and the push of a button, Vincent stopped the doors from closing and called out.

"Miss!" Just loud enough to get her attention "I think you dropped this." he presented her scroll and she shifted the books to feel her pocket then smiled.

"Oh thank you so much!" She cheered as she walked back to get the device. Vincent handed it over and stepped back from the elevator doors to let them shut.

 _Such advanced security and yet so easily foiled._ The gunslinger thought with a huff of amusement _Although, there is definitely a camera in here and my intrusion has been recorded but no one watches elevator security feeds until after something bad happens._

In the highest office, seated at his desk behind the face of the clock, Ozpin was taking a break from his headmaster duties to read over Qrow's most recent report. All around nothing interesting. Aerith and Zack had been a frustratingly normal couple since he allowed them to stay at Beacon. His terminal pinged and lit up to announce someone was coming to his office. He gave it a brief look, Rossa Azure, a third year student currently working as Professor Peach's assistant. But when the doors pinged and opened he was met the sight of a tall person in black clothes and a tattered red cape that was much closer to a cloak. Ozpin instantly went for his cane and stood from his desk.

"Relax." The person, now definitely a man said "Your student is fine. I had to talk to you and don't have a scroll." Ozpin did not relax. The man stood with his arms hanging, his gloved hand uncomfortably close to the gun on his thigh.

"Who are you?" Ozpin softly demanded.

"That's not important and the less you know about me, the better." Vincent stated "I'm here to tell you why exactly I am here."

Ozpin remained in his tense fighting stance. He was unable to get a read on this man and when testing for aura, he could sense two people directly in front of him "I'm listening." the stranger gave a very shallow nod.

"I am here to destroy Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough."

 **Please leave a Review.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Long chapter.**

"I am here to destroy Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough," Vincent stated for the Headmaster.

"Not many assassins announce who their target is," Ozpin said calmly, keeping himself ready to fight the mystery man.

"Nor do they tell someone that could prevent the incident," Vincent reply "But you value the greater good and wish to prevent the end of humanity. I am no different."

"Then explain how they are a threat. Several months ago Aerith came to me saying she was here to help us defeat the darkness."

"And then she summoned Zack Fair," As Vincent spoke the elevator pinged and Glynda walked in with her head down, focused on her tablet at the moment. Both men looked at her.

"Oz, I've been going over the reports-" Her speech halted and her expression went from calm to annoyed in an instant when she looked up "You."

"We met in the red forest," Vincent answered Ozpin's coming question "Does she know?"

"Yes," Oz nodded.

"Zack is a walking biological weapon waiting to be triggered."

"Do you have evidence of such an accusation?" Ozpin suggested more than asked.

"What did Zack tell you about Shinra and SOLDIER?"

"Shinra was a tyrannical company and SOLDIER was their private army of enhanced fighters," Glynda responded.

"Enhanced through J-cells," Vincent added prompting a nod from the headmaster "He explained Jenova?"

"He mentioned that it was an alien," Glynda supplied

"Jenova is alien compared to humans but so are the Grimm," Vincent spoke softly "It spent two thousand years sealed in stone and yet survives to this day. It is the literal mother of all monsters on Gaia," Vincent paused briefly to allow for a question or response but neither administrator spoke "What you need to know is Zack can not so much as bleed on Remnant without risking drawing the attention of Jenova's son, Sephiroth."

"How does this implicate miss Gainsborough?" Glynda asked carefully watching the stranger, also noticing how his hand hovered near the gun on his thigh.

"Zack Fair is her lover and likely is exceptionally fertile as a result of the J-cells," Vincent stated to the two could-be allies but at this rate seemed more like eventual obstacles.

"We were told Sephiroth has been dead for years," Ozpin started to relax but kept his cane firmly in hand and remain on his feet. Vincent let out an audible sigh and crossed his arms very much looking like he was settling in for a long discussion.

"The human Sephiroth, yes. The impossible nightmare made flesh Sephiroth has shrugged off death twice. Rebuilding his physical form from the involuntary contributions of those infected with J-cells," Vincent briefly considered sitting down but instead chose to hope something would interrupt the conversation.

Ozpin and Glynda locked gazes for a moment. Wordless sentiments flying back and forth at the ludicrous nature of what the man was claiming. While they spoke with their eyes Vincent's crimson gaze observed carefully, drinking in every detail and every subtle movement of muscle. They were feigning skepticism while he watched.

"This-"

"You're familiar with someone that can undo their own death," Vincent's gravelly voice cut off the blonde "That knowledge is your own. I have no interest in joining your war."

"Yet you are here to kill god-given allies. Forgive us for being hesitant to let a self proclaimed threat walk free," Ozpin said and did not fail to see the ever so slight way Vincent's eyebrows pulled together.

"I was sent by Minerva to prevent the possibility of Gaia's sins drowning Remnant in blood."

The conversation was forced to a dead stop as a lightning bolt struck the courtyard of Beacon with a mighty crash and a rumble felt clearly up the tower. Ignoring the current tense standing of possible allies or enemies, Vincent walked right up the window to look down at what or who had been struck on a clear sunny day. He could hear the blond woman saying something to Ozpin but it was not important to him. The man in the suit kept his distance from Vincent and also looked down to the courtyard. From this height neither man could clearly see what was happening.

"How are you going to do it?"

"I will take the White Materia, by force if need be, and erase them."

"I guess that means they won't join the lifestream then. A shame."

"There is no peace in death for those infected by Jenova. Better to be completely erased."

* * *

Zack and Aerith were walking from the bullhead landing pads to Beacon down the majestic avenue, neither speaking but enjoying the presence of the other. When they reached about halfway Zack stopped to yawn and stretch his arms. He looked over his girlfriend, Aerith giving him a curious expression since as a SOLDIER Zack rarely expressed any sort of fatigue, smiling to himself about the vision of beauty and a deep curiosity over what kind of power Aerith had been hiding.

"How about a spar?" He asked. Aerith took a look around the area. It was surprisingly vacant but it must be because of the quickly approaching exam days. There were the odd student here and there but no large groups.

"Sure," She walked over to the closest seating spot and placed her bag of books down "Go easy on me though. I've never fought a soldier."

"I don't even have my sword. And you have a weapon full of dust," Zack whined playfully, they did in fact stop by a dust shop to get Aerith's new stuff filled with an assortment of the materia-like substance "I'm at a disadvantage," They shared a laugh at that as they took a small number of paces away from each other "Ladies first."

Aerith gave her sweet smile and focused on feeling the dust in her weapon. Hot and volatile, cold and calm, strong and bold, dense and ready, energetic and tingly, and a multitude of other feelings from the power. Materia without the memories. She chose the electric dust first. Pulsing her aura into it through her weapon, she planted her staff on the ground and called on her power. Less than an instant later the spot where Zack was standing exploded as a bolt of lightning struck, the SOLDIER giving a surprised yelp as he was caught off guard and thrown a dozen feet away. The smell of singed cloth wafted through the air and every person in the courtyard was now watching, it was hard to ignore a sudden lightning strike.

"Zack?" Aerith's soft voice rang out over the deathly silent courtyard. The lightning bolt had been much more powerful than she expected. The man in question was laying face down on the ground and not moving. Silence hung in the air as people watched and Aerith's heart was trying its hardest to speed up as if she was worried. She he was fine. He had told stories about shrugging off taking a missile to the chest and surviving training with Angeal and Genesis. SOLDIERs and Huntsmen truly were not all that different when she thought about it "Zack. Stop pretending."

With an overdramatic sigh Zack rolled over and onto his feet, lightly bouncing and smiling wide "That was one hell of a hit buuuuut nothing all that special."

Aerith pouted at his taunt and launched a fireball at him. Her opponent met the fireball with a clenched fist and a toothy smile. While smoke rolled off his fist he tilted his head and gave a taunting smile that asked for something stronger. Aerith accepted that challenge with a needless windmill spin of her staff and called up every memory she could of Avalanche, her friends. Memories of traveling, fighting wild beasts, making camp, training, sparring, talking, laughing, all manner of emotions during the trip to Wutai… so many bittersweet memories. When she opened her eyes she was greeted by the sight of several silhouettes, one for each member of Avalanche (minus Cait Sith due to being a robot) with Cloud still the most solid of them.

Zack's smile faded into a worried smirk "Stop when he surrenders," the sweetness in her voice did little to comfort the jovial man.

As the silhouettes dashed into battle Aerith took a look around at the students watching soundlessly and saw many others watching from windows. Even Glynda was watching from the main entrance to Beacon causing Aerith to think Ozpin was watching from his tower. Across from her towards the bullheads Aerith spotted team RWBY watching the fight. Well, watching Zack fight the memories of Avalanche and as the team that defeated Sephiroth, they were giving the former SOLDIER a hard time.

Cloud, Tifa, and Red - Nanaki - Aerith corrected herself, applying pressure in close range, Yuffie and Cid charging in to attack and quickly slipping away, and with Barret and Vincent providing long range support Zack was hard pressed to find an opening to escape the onslaught. But Aerith knew that these were merely memories of her friends and while there were plenty of memories to call on, they were finite and a memory does not adapt. Zack would find the pattern and break free, she had to think of a strategy for when that happened.

Glynda Goodwitch was locked onto the ghostly image of Vincent Valentine moving around the area. It made her realize she did not actually know what Aerith's semblance was but it seemed she could create a kind of shadow of others. Using others as a source of power, throwing images in the way of her enemies while she had free reign to observe and strategize. Aerith was beyond powerful, if her claimed heritage was true than this was just the surface of her abilities and it took all self control the blonde had to remain still with a critical expression. On the other side of things, Zack. The mystery man and possibly Grimm. He was struggling against the seven silhouettes that worked quite well together, especially the more solid one with the enormous, and in no way useful to a huntsman, sword that seemed to hold a smaller sword or two. Glynda had a curiosity about who that was as the real man was obviously a skilled fighter.

And then Zack started to glow. A faint yellow and white shine outlining him, all assumed it was his semblance kicking in. He brought his arms in front of himself, then lowered them to his sides as he crouched into an obvious lunge position. There was the sound of his boot scraping the ground as he pushed off before he nearly vanished with how fast he moved in to deliver a flurry of blows to the image of Barret to launch it at the Cid image, then he was hitting the Vincent silhouette and gave it a kick to launch it into Barret, and then he was suddenly behind Yuffie and gave that shadow a hard kick into the other three. Zack dived with both fists out and those four silhouettes were destroyed in an explosion of light accompanied by a heavy thud of a shock wave. To Glynda Goodwitch and Team RWBY, Zack just used a combination of Ruby and Yang's semblance but to Zack and Aerith, the SOLDIER used an ability taught by Angeal. Zack released a breath and then yelped as the Cloud image slammed the massive blade into his back, lifting him off the ground and throwing him clear across the makeshift arena.

 _Right. Those things don't have emotion for the others._ The soldier thought as he crashed into the ground and rolled to a stop at Team RWBY's feet. He pushed himself onto his back and looked up at the four girls, gaze latching onto the weapon on the hip of the one in white.

"Can I borrow that?" He asked while pointing at the weapon from his prone position.

The girl looked to her comrades, avoiding the eyes of the one with black hair, with no small amount of uncertainty giving a soft "Uh… Okay?" She grabbed her sword and held the hilt down to him.

Zack nodded his thanks, grabbed the sword and once her hands were clear he brought his knees to his chest and leaped onto his feet. A simple but impressive thing to do. The four girls saw the colorful shadow hound bearing down on Zack long before he did but before any of them could call out, Zack struck. The blade of the rapier being brought down then driven up through the hound's jaw and head. The image of Nanaki vanished. Now just Cloud and Tifa. The shining blue SOLDIER gaze swept the area but the silhouettes were nowhere to be seen making look up for them, just in case. Cloud was one of the few people Zack knew that would actually fight vertically.

"Your aura is dangerously low, mister Fair." Glynda called out.

"Huh?" Was Zack's lame response. He pulled his scroll out of his pocket to check "Oh hey, it is in the red. Thanks for the heads up," he turned back to Team RWBY and held out the rapier to return it "Thanks for lending me a sword."

Glynda waved her riding crop and the air shifted. Zack and Aerith watched in wonder as every shred of displaced brick and stone lifted up and flew over to where it came from and settled. Just like that, the courtyard was back to normal and the two aliens were amazed. Aerith compacted her staff and retrieved her shopping bag while Zack just meandered over. Glynda intercepted them on the way to the main building.

"Hello Glynda," Aerith greeted with a smile.

"Those things you made, I've seen many semblances that are quite similar but never one that made different people," she sounded like she had simple innocent curiosity to Aerith. Clearly she felt no need for subtle probing for intel on the two alleged allies.

"My friends," Aerith answered "Well, memories of them. They'll never be as strong as the real people but at least I can make a lot of them."

"A very good reminder of what we're all fighting for," Glynda briefly looked over Zack wondering exactly how he came to be on Remnant "I do believe Ozpin would like to talk to you about your semblance."

"Yes ma'am," Zack reply with a nod and moved to follow the blonde teacher.

Once again they were standing across from the man with grey hair and spectacles while he sat at his desk with a mug of coffee. He eyed them, drinking every tiny detail of their posture, expression, and body language. It continued to amaze him just how emotive they were considering they claimed to have been through horrific situations. Either both were very good at pushing the pain into the back of their minds or they are simply mentally fractured.

"So um," Zack began awkwardly. He had an ever increasingly obvious dislike for silence between people "My semblance is hard to explain. It's like I can learn how to use other people's semblances."

"So what you did in the courtyard against Aerith's memory phantoms?" Glynda pressured.

"I learned it from my mentor, Angeal."

"How is it you learn the abilities of others?" Ozpin asked as he pushed away from his desk to lean into his chair.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I've learned abilities from people without actually seeing them do it and other times way, way before they even knew about their own semblance," Zack's telltale sign of nervousness presented itself, rubbing the back of his neck, as he thought about the abilities he picked up from Cissnei and Cloud "It's like, I get them at random from people I bond with and they get added to a little slot machine in my head."

"You don't control what ability you use in battle?" Glynda's harsh teacher tone made Zack feel like he was answering to Sephiroth for another one of his incidents in the Shinra building.

"No. I don't even get to choose when," Zack gave a nervous chuckle at himself "Just happens when I'm fighting."

Ozpin took a sip of coffee to let the silence drag on while Glynda tried to process that thought. He set the mug down with a soft clink of glass meeting glass "A random ability at a random time while you're in combat. Coupled with your rather enthusiastic disposition, you are truly a wildcard."

"Thank you sir. That is the nicest way someone has described my semblance."

"The way you glow, however," Glynda cut in "I assume that was caused by your semblance taking effect," Zack nodded "If it's truly random though, how are you able to use it so well? Most people would be completely unprepared."

"Again, I dunno how to explain it. It's like my body knows what to do before my brain does," Zack was disliking how dumb he was sounding in regards to his own ability.

"Gut instinct and muscle memory are two natural abilities everyone has yet most disregard them. You are quite unique Zack," Ozpin spoke with smallest hint of a smile curling one side of his lips "The only person to able to be unpredictable in every battle. Although, that could make you a great hazard to your allies."

"I've never and will never choose to hurt a friend."

"No one ever wants to. But sometimes a simple error in judgement can have long reaching consequences," Ozpin spoke in his usual cryptic way but it was still far better than quoting poetry during regular conversation, Zack decided.

The elder man looked between the duo before him and gave an indicative nod. Following his gaze they found the tall man in black clothing and a red cloak. He had positioned himself beside a pillar to remain out of sight of the elevator, where he could observe and listen. Ever the Turk.

"Vincent!" Aerith was the first to move, quickly closing the gap and wanting to give the solemn man a hug but knowing he was not fond of physical contact "How did- When- I thought…" she was more than stunned and scattered.

"Recently. Minerva is concerned over a development," his crimson gaze drifted over to Zack for a moment then back to the half-Cetra "She commanded me to retrieve the White Materia from you," as he spoke, he raised his left hand expecting Aerith to hand over the object.

"What? Why?" Aerith subconsciously reaching for her braid.

"You brought Jenova to Remnant. You are infected."

"I didn't-"

"Zack was a SOLDIER. He was infected and only death can cure Jenova," Vincent still had his gauntlet covered hand out.

"I am right here you know," Zack snipped, not appreciating being reffered to in past tense.

"You are not Zack Fair," Vincent stated "You are one of those monsters mixed with memories of the man. Much like one of Sephiroth's remnants."

"I'm a monster?" Zack asked with a raised brow "Hey pot, I'm kettle." Zack added emphasis to his joking insult as a sarcastic wave. Vincent glared at the younger man for several seconds then looked down to Aerith.

"Aerith," He commanded.

"No," She reply. The gunslinger, her friend, did not visibly react at first. Then he slowly curled his steel covered fingers in and lowered his arm.

"Very well," Vincent's surrender came as a surprise to the two teachers as it contradicted his earlier statement of employing force "I hope you're aware the White Materia will stop responding to you in time," the bright green gaze fell to the floor and the red gaze moved to meet shining blue.

They stared each other down for several long seconds until Vincent broke the contact and proceeded to the elevator. Silence hung in the air for several minutes while Zack and Aerith waited for the next elevator down. Uncomfortable silence continued to hang between Ozpin and Glynda when they were alone. Both of them pulled off their glasses, the blonde gripping the bridge of her nose while the man with grey hair buried his face in his hands.

"Thoughts?" Glynda asked as she sat in one of the guest chairs.

"They're playing their own game on our board. If those three are as powerful as they claim," he leaned onto his elbows on his desk "Their infighting is going to cause a lot of collateral damage."

"Could it be a gambit to divide us?" She offered, making no effort to hide the stress or exhaustion.

"Poorly put forward if it is. We have no reason to back either side of that conflict since we don't trust any of them. It seems rushed and poorly thought out, as if this Minerva has more firepower than strategy," Ozpin put his glasses back on and stood to refill his coffee "I'm worried that this story of _Gaia_ might be true and if it is, what will be sent if Vincent fails? What do we do if this _Sephiroth_ is a real threat?"

"What if he is pulling their strings?"

"Too many 'what if's for my liking. If we continue down that rabbit hole we'll be distracted from preparing for the fight we know is coming," he briefly thought that could be another possible scenario. Drop a few strangers claiming to be allies into their midst and forcibly distract from the real threat with made up stories and a fake problem "What I do know for certain, however, red capes are the calling card of people that bring trouble."

* * *

That night, like many other nights before, Zack could not get to sleep. He sat on the edge of the bed he shared with Aerith, she was fast asleep with a soft expression of being troubled. After today though, it was expected and he knew he could not help. Standing up with a sigh he changed into some workout shorts and a tank top and slipped on his SOLDIER boots. Shinra was many things but their choice in suppliers for clothes was far above great. He grabbed his scroll and slipped out of the room, quietly making his way down stairs and out of the building.

Zack enjoyed going for a run at night. With the city dimmed and quiet, most people either asleep or at home, it was peaceful. The only sounds his breathing, boots slapping the ground, and his heartbeat. But tonight, his mind was deafening. Arguing with himself about himself. Vincent's words had struck hard and cut deep into his very being. How does one know if they are real and not just some kind of recording?

" _Or a puppet?"_ A rather unhelpful voice, that always sounded much like Genesis, suggested.

" _I have aura though,"_ he shot back at himself _"And a semblance._ _Only people with souls have those,"_ He tried to convince himself to recover some of his confidence.

" _Angeal had a soul. Jenova had a soul. Sephiroth has a soul,"_ The unhelpful voice added _"The remnants had souls."_

Zack growled to himself and increased his speed, going for a fourth lap around Beacon's gardens "I am not a remnant. I am Zack Fair."

" _You can be Zack Fair and a puppet. Just look at Cloud,"_ Now the voice was sounding like Vincent _"No matter how you look at it, you are a monster."_

" _I am not a monster!"_ He mentally shouted at the voice in his head, grinding his teeth.

" _What kind of person enjoys cutting down other people? Cheers while others lay dying? Kills their own mentor and friend?"_ With that came memories of Modeoheim and the shock made Zack lose his footing and tumble to the ground _"Allows the slaughter of an innocent village? And leaves a madman to live when he deserved to die?"_ His response to his inner demon was to grind his teeth and slam his fist against the ground, causing a shallow fist-sized crater in the grass and dirt.

Swallowing his impotent rage at himself, the ex-SOLDIER climbed to his feet and turned on his heel. He just about gave a startled shout when he saw someone standing a bit too close to him in the darkness, able to reduce the shout down to a deep gasp as his pulse skyrocketed. Suddenly face to face with one of the students he worked with in class with his breathing fast and shallow and his heart hammering against his ribs, Zack had to take a step back to try to calm himself. He never pinned Nora Valkyrie for a stealthy type.

"Hey there Mister Fair," she greeted cheerful as ever "Saw you trip and fall down. But wow, you were running fast before. Not crazy fast like Ruby but still really fast."

"Yeah," Zack choked out between deep breaths "I like going for a run at night. You're pretty sneaky to get the drop on me."

"Pfft, no," she gave a dismissive wave "I was talking to you but you were all off in your own world. Ren says I do that a lot. Run off into Nora land and don't see what's going on in front of me."

"Heh. Yeah me too," Zack agreed through a chuckle. He gave Nora a once over and noted her clothes, a black tee shirt with pink pajama pants and running shoes, pushing him to the conclusion she had also gone for a night run "So you out for a run?"

Nora shrug "Wasn't sleepy so I wanted to burn some energy."

"Did you make sure to let your team know?"

"Yeah, of course," she answered with a smile and an eyeroll "Did you tell your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, of course," Zack mimicked Nora's tone and they shared a laugh. It was refreshing to talk to someone so animated and emotive, in a positive way "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Uh, you just did."

So cheerful and ready to make a quip. Nora reminded Zack of a younger version of himself "Do you think my class was actually useful?"

"Yep!" The quick response paired with the bright smile assured the SOLDIER "Jaune is waaay better at fighting and Pyrrha is better at having a partner. But me and Ren have been fighting partners for like, a long long time," Her smile and proud statements were endearing but while she spoke of herself and her partner Zack caught a very minor twitch in her lips a flash of emotion in her eyes. Something deeply buried, something profoundly negative. He would not be asking about it.

"So you two already know how to fight fluidly together," Zack finished the statement for her.

"Can I ask you something, Mister Fair?"

"It's only fair I guess," Zack said with a smile "No pun intended."

"Why are your eyes so shiny?" The girl with terrifying strength asked as she raised herself onto the tips of toes to get closer to Zack's eyes, not concerned with personal space "Lots of people are wondering. I think it's kinda like Ruby's silver eyes. Something special to your family or something. Ren said he thinks I'm right, Jaune thinks it's a faunus thing and P says it's definitely a semblance thing."

Zack only half listened as his mind raced to come up with something plausible "No, I'm all human. But they're not a natural thing. My bright eyes are a side effect of, uh, raw dust exposure. There was a huge deposit near my village that no one knew about until I fell into it."

Nora fell back onto her feet and her expression lit up "You're from a village outside the kingdoms? Which village?"

He was uncertain if Nora was just interested or trying to grill him for information. From what he knew of her she tended to have short lived intense interests in things, if what Jaune talked about during sparring was true "Gongaga. Little village hidden by forest south of Mistral." He knew Mistral was the name of one of the other kingdoms but he could not recall which one it was.

Genesis always said _"If it wasn't for the maps, SOLDIER GPS, and objective markers, Zack would get lost getting out of the Shinra Building."_

"That's a funny name," Nora sniggered "Gongaga. Gone-gah-gah."

"Okay, okay, I get it," He could not help but chuckle as Nora laughed "It's a funny thing to say. But don't make fun of a small village with a funny name because it made me and I'm a huntsman and your teacher."

Nora stood tall with her back straight and offered him a smiling salute "Yes sir, mister Fair."

They walked around to the front of the school and they both spotted a girl and a boy in the distance, next to the statue in the courtyard. Nora asked who it might be but Zack was focusing on figuring that out, thanks to SOLDIER enhancements. He could make out a monochrome outfit, black hair, and dark but not black peaked ears on her head. With the boy he could make out short blonde hair, a really casual outfit, and a tail. Not wanting to bother what could be a romantic rendezvous Zack ushered Nora toward Beacon's main doors and bid her a good night once they were inside.

Zack returned to his room feeling better than earlier and stifled a laugh when he saw Aerith curled up on their bed holding his pillow against her chest. He pulled off his footwear and sleeveless shirt before drawing back the covers, immediately causing an annoyed whine from Aerith making her grip his pillow even tighter. He lay beside her and pulled the covers up to their shoulders and lay staring at the ceiling.

" _Alright Vincent,"_ Zack spoke mentally _"I've fought and beat Angeal and Genesis, I almost beat Sephiroth, I fought Shinra. I'll fight Jenova and I'll fight you. I'm not giving up this life. This is my time."_

 **So I feel like I haven't been writing as well as I could have been so I took some extra time to work on this chapter and I hope it shows. Made sure to fix as many little errors as I could find but I'm sure a few slipped by me.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter with a little plot, a little action, and some fluff. Please leave a Review.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A new chapter for all my lovely readers! I apologize for the rather huge delay, I got stuck writing one scene and just couldn't get it right. Also, I apologize for not personally responding to Reviews as I have in the past and I promise to rectify that. To answer one question though: Yes, I have made Zack's Semblance the Crisis Core DMW; without the extra Summon and Critter reels though.**

Jaune's breath came in heavy gasps and beads of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he stared up at the tip of the pristine greatsword. His own sword was within sight but hopelessly out of reach and his shield landed somewhere behind him during their last clash. The sharp point of the large blade lowered towards his nose and Jaune saw his vision distort as his eyes crossed while tracking the steel. His opponent released a laugh and pulled the blade away, returning it to their back and offering a gloved hand. Jaune took it and was easily hauled to his feet. The blonde nodded his thanks and went to collect his sword and shield.

"You've gotten a lot better," Zack announced cheerfully as Jaune sat down to recover "Hard to believe that just a couple months ago you were wildly swinging your sword," Jaune have an awkward chuckle.

"Why so early on a Monday this time?" the blonde teen asked between breaths as he looked out towards the rising sun.

"Because you never know when a battle will happen," Zack answered with a smile "You must always be ready. And with exams starting tomorrow I wanted to give you time to relax and be with your team."

"Oh. Thanks mister Fair."

"We're also done with the basic stuff and it's time for a talk," Zack could see Jaune tense up and killed a laugh in his throat "Why do you want to be a Huntsman?"

"My sisters," Jaune's expression of anxiety towards the conversation fell to remembrance "I grew up in a village at the foot of the mountains south of here," Zack looked up to the sky silently asking if the gods thought this funny "Me, my parents, and seven sisters. About two years ago a Grimm attacked the village. My oldest sister, Vert, was a teacher and my youngest sister, Noire, was in class on that day," Zack did not have to think hard to figure out what happened. He took hold of Jaune's shoulder in a sympathetic and comforting manner, trying to express his support without saying anything because he knew no words could help. The blonde teen cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes "I want to be a Huntsman so I can help protect my sisters and help make sure people don't lose their kids to Grimm."

"An honorable goal Jaune," it would be a lie for Zack to say he did not have tears well up "In the line of duty you must hold onto your dreams and honor," Zack pulled the greatsword off his back and held it up with both hands, gazing at the SOLDIER emblem engraved on the guard "Embrace your dreams and hold onto your honor as a Huntsman," he placed his forehead against the blade "Honor is what separates man from beast, a knight from a bandit, a hero from a glorified murderer," Zack swallowed the shaky breath he felt coming up and returned the sword to his back. It was difficult to share the message Angeal had preached "Jaune-"

"I cheated," Jaune suddenly announced, interrupting Zack "I forged transcripts to get into Beacon."

"So?" Zack clearly surprised the teen with his response "I'm betting Ozpin has known since the second week. But you're still here and that means he can see the potential I do. You are going to be amazing Jaune but you have to work hard and stay true to yourself and your friends."

Jaune was stunned. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came. He tried to speak a few more times but it resulted in him looking like a fish. Zack gave a laugh and helped the boy to his feet, urging him to shower and change before regrouping with his team. The blonde nodded and set off, still in a daze then the black haired SOLDIER turned and looked to the roof of the school, towards the morning sun. It was blinding but Zack could see a dark figure crouched up there. They had been there trying to burn holes in his head with their gaze the whole time. Zack gave them a wave and turned to head inside as well.

Jaune wandered up to his team's dorm, muscles starting to ache and bruises taking form, yet he felt much lighter. Hiding the truth of his admission to Beacon had been weighing him down and telling Pyrrha had helped for several seconds until Cardin revealed himself. But now after telling a teacher and having them wave it off was a great relief. It was also great to be able to tell someone why he was at Beacon at all and not have them try to shower him with sympathy. As much as he loved his team and friends they are a bit overbearing when something upsetting came to light. Sometimes the best way to help someone is to leave them alone.

Jaune quietly slipped inside and carefully placed his equipment on the floor. Pyrrha was still curled up with the blankets pulled up to her nose, Ren is on his left side with blankets up to his neck and had barely moved since they all turned in, and Nora was laying on her back hugging a pillow with her blankets discarded on the floor. The leader of team JNPR smiled to himself and grabbed some clothes before heading to the communal showers. On his way he encountered Weiss, fully dressed, weapon on her hip, scroll loosely in her hand, and staring out a window.

He threw on his most charming smile and walked up to her. Just before he opened his mouth to deliver a complimenting greeting he saw a tear run down her cheek. Quickly rethinking his next action he dropped the smile and spoke in a soft tone.

"Hey Weiss? You okay?" the way her eyes shifted as she turned sharply to look at him announced he had startled her. She recovered lightning fast and turned on her heel to walk away.

"Perfectly fine," she spat as she walked down the hall away from him.

Jaune watched her go. He felt insulted for a moment but it was replaced by understanding. She was hurting about something and was burying it. When she was ready she would talk to someone about it, most likely the other three of her team. So he let it go and continued to the showers.

Weiss walked with purpose through the halls of Beacon with no destination in mind. Her mind was oddly silent like it was unable to form thoughts. The message she had received earlier had been a relief and distressing in its own way. She could have joined Ruby and Yang but the pale teen knew she would not be able to handle what she would see if she did.

Her trance cleared as she found herself in front of a chair so she sat down and rested her arms on the table. For an unknown amount of time she sat staring at the scroll in her hand wondering if she should send a message. If she should be doing anything. She wracked her brain for any idea or clue as to what the right choice was but nothing came forward. Weiss gave a frustrated sigh and dropped her head onto the table.

"Weiss?" a soft familiar voice asked to get her attention.

The girl in question raised her head and met the bright green gaze of the brunette teacher "Good morning miss Gainsborough," Weiss said automatically, years of trained formality dictating the action.

"Doesn't seem like one for you," Aerith said as she sat in the chair opposite Weiss. The heiress glared purely from reflex which had no effect on the older woman, Aerith merely slid a travel mug she had been holding over to the girl "What's wrong Weiss?" Weiss eyed the mug and caught the scent of herbal tea then sent a questioning glance to the teacher "Tea helps. I haven't touched it so you don't have to worry about germs."

Weiss nodded and hesitantly took a sip. It was hot but not painfully so and delicious. Not a blend she was familiar with and so much better than what the cafeteria offered "That's really good," she said quietly.

"Thanks. My own blend," Aerith offered a smile, she always did have an instinctual knowledge of plants and a green thumb. She assumed it had something to do with being half Cetra "So what's bothering you?"

The ice blue gaze of the Schnee dropped to the lid of the travel mug then traveled to the scroll in her hand. She had no idea where to begin or even how. Her teammate is in the hospital because she foolishly went and picked a fight with a known crime lord. Did she start with explaining that and then say why hospitals made her miserable? Or perhaps begin with why she hated hospitals and then talk about Blake? Either why, it was unbecoming of a Schnee to speak so candidly of issues in a public… where was she? Weiss took a quick look around to finally take in where she had wandered. Beacon's library. To stall for time she took another sip of the tea and nearly jumped in panic when she felt a soft hand gently wrap around hers, the one on her scroll.

"What happened?" Aerith asked softly, her bright green eyes filled with genuine concern. It caused a feeling of warmth in Weiss, the honest concern was something she never experienced back in Atlas.

"Blake is in the hospital. She chose to fight Roman Torchwick at the docks last night. They said she'll recover and be fine but it's… she doesn't look good," it all just spilled out, taking Weiss by surprise. She thought she would have been more restrained and ff eloquent "Ruby and Yang have been with her since last night. I would've gone with them but I… I don't…"

"Don't like hospitals. I understand," Aerith stated and gave Weiss' hand a soft squeeze "I don't like them either but as her teacher and her friend we have to go see her."

"She won't want to see me. We got into a fight the other day and-" Weiss stopped as Aerith held up a hand indicating she should stop, something her father did very often and failure to obey that rule had consequences.

"And being there for her, somewhere you don't like, will show her your friendship is important," Aerith stood from her chair and motioned for the heiress to follow "You're going to have to guide us to the hospital though," Weiss nodded, tucked her scroll into a pocket and took up the travel mug.

* * *

Vincent stood of the roof of Beacon looking out into the city while rubbing his temple. A fierce headache had made itself present as punishment for the lack of sleep. Very difficult for the man to adjust to the lack of Chaos and restored mortal needs. He should have made his move by now but the presence of that monster calling itself Zack always at Aerith's side made it a seemingly impossible fight. One mortal man with some persisting enhancements against a part of Jenova. He would not win. Then there was Aerith herself. She was the last of the Cetra, an integral part of AVALANCHE, his friend. Gaia owed her so much and now she was to be erased.

His crimson gaze slid down to his right where a pink ribbon still adorned his arm. He owed her much. She helped him greatly in coming to terms with what he was, how the violent souls within him could be harnessed for good, how one of them was one of Gaia's weapons. Deep within his new heart he wished he could help her but in the war against Jenova, there is no compromise. With a deep breath he reigned his emotions back in and slid his fingers over the grip of Cerberus. Success or failure he would get to go home but if he failed Minerva would send another, one less compassionate and tenfold more violent.

"So you're the one," a gravelly voice greeted his ears, surprising the former Turk. Vincent turned around and looked the man over, not impressed by the sight "Heard you've been skulking around. Planning on killing a couple teachers," Vincent did not respond opting to keep his hard gaze locked on Qrow "You made Ozpin uneasy, not something just anyone can do. Also said you passed up the chance to take them by surprise," Qrow paused to let Vincent speak but only found silence then sigh "I've been keeping an eye on them since the semester started. They've done nothing besides have a healthy relationship. Could almost be normal good people."

"Aerith is a good person," Vincent stated for the annoying man "With a foul curse."

"So I've been told. That means she deserves to die?"

"Aerith deserves so much more. But the choice is her or Remnant."

"What about Zack?"

"That isn't Zack," Vincent stated, making Qrow raise an eyebrow "It's a monster acting the part."

"What d'ya say to a little help then?" Qrow suggested while Vincent tried to stare him down. Maybe. Vincent was unbelievably difficult to read and that bothered Qrow "If he is really a monster, I'll help you put him down."

Vincent revealed his surprise via a slight raising of his eyebrows "Why?"

"Personal reasons. I'm also betting he can be a fierce fighter."

"It took a small army to kill the real Zack. If this one is a monster from Gaia, Beacon or Vale will be lost in the battle."

Qrow's expression darkened "You sure about that?" Vincent merely nodded in response "Then I'll make sure we have a team ready."

* * *

It took just over an hour for Weiss and Aerith to reach Vale hospital. The pale teen had to take a breath before entering and the brunette woman gave a comforting pat on the shoulder. The directions they were given lead them to the third floor of the north wing, taking the stairs because the elevators are important for staff and patients.

Upon reaching the room where Blake was situated, a shared room with two other visible beds with curtains drawn around the fourth, they found Ruby and Yang along with a blonde teenage boy. Blake was laying on top of the sheets with numerous bruises on her exposed skin and numerous others peeking out from under clothing. Her face was a mixture of bruise colors with almost none of her normal skin tone showing, eyes, lips, and cheeks swollen, her nose had clearly been reset after being broken, and her face is dotted with small cuts that accompany such a savage beating. As bad as it looked, she had only one needle in her arm connected to a hanging bag of what most likely was medicine and nutrients.

While ignoring the questions from the visiting teens Aerith pulled the curtains closed around Blake's patient bed. She stood beside the unconscious, or possibly sleeping, girl and looked to the other four.

"Don't tell anyone about this, please?" she requested as her hands hovered above Blake. She reached down into her own power choosing to not use the White Materia this time and called forth a healing spell. A task that had once been difficult but after everything with AVALANCHE, Aerith was proud to say she could most likely cast healing spells in her sleep.

Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Sun crowded the side of the bed opposite Aerith when they noticed dull green sparkles appearing on Blake. They stood in stunned silence as the bruising faded, the swelling reduced, and the cuts sealed and vanished entirely leaving no scars. In seconds the wounds from the fight she had been through were erased and the girl opened her eyes. Blake opened her mouth to speak but could only give a panicked gasp as Yang hauled her into a bear hug.

"Thank god you're okay. What happened last night?" Yang sounded close to tears as she spoke.

"Sun and I went to the docks to see who was stealing dust. It was Roman and the White Fang," Blake explained quietly.

"But-" Weiss began, stopped short by Blake looking at her "Why would they work with him?"

"I don't know. I charged in like an idiot to find out."

"And then the battle started," Sun interjected "I distracted Roman so Blake could takedown the goons. That's pretty much when Ruby and the laser girl showed up."

All eyes were back on Blake "There's no way some random White Fang dude beat you," Yang stated proudly.

"It wasn't. He fought like a Huntsman. He must of been one of Torchwick's men dressed like a White Fang."

"What's important is you're safe and well," Aerith lay a hand on Blake's shoulder and offered a smile "Just please promise me you won't go attacking professional criminals by yourself again."

"But-" Blake began mostly out of reflex.

"No but," Aerith gently denied "Going in alone will get you killed," she knew that from experience and was certain she should not mention that "You have a team. Promise me you won't forget that."

"I won't, miss Gainsborough."

"Wait, shouldn't you be saying it was foolish to go after the White Fang? Or making Blake swear to not pursue them? Or, or something?" Weiss argued but quickly took a step back from the group and suddenly found the floor to be fascinating. Once again she had spoken before thinking and assumed she had just inspired the teacher to deliver discipline.

"There is nothing wrong with-" Aerith did not want to say researching or studying, those words sent chills down her spine "- looking into the White Fang," she was going to have to learn what that group was later "Just as long as you include your team and listen to them," She directed at Blake. It was obvious Blake was going to do what she wanted regardless of what was said, Aerith's hope is to get her to work with her team, to prevent Blake rushing headfirst into a grave "If you happen to find out where a career criminal will be next, tell one of the teachers so you will have backup."

"Kinda feels like you're telling us to go after the White Fang…" Ruby sounded beyond confused but with hope underlying.

Aerith was unable to stop her soft laugh from escaping. It would be rather hypocritical for her to tell them not to go after criminals, being a former Shinra-labeled terrorist, and pursuing a merciless madman that was hilariously more powerful than any in AVALANCHE against all common sense and self preservation instincts. So she could not help finding Ruby's claim funny. Four trained fighters with astounding abilities against some lawbreaking thugs? Aerith would bet on team RWBY and their friends.

"Sorry, sorry," Aerith had to speak between breaths as she calmed her giggles "I'm not telling you to go after them but I'm also not telling you to ignore them. It's your choice, just don't forget you have friends."

It was not until they were on board a bullhead to Beacon that the expected question came up and surprisingly it came from Yang. Aerith had been under the impression Weiss would be the first to ask how she healed Blake. It caused a short conversation of agreement and talking about the silhouettes Aerith summoned before, giving her time to think. But all too soon silence fell and four gazes were on her; Sun departed into Vale after leaving the hospital.

"I'm the last of a group of people that shared a deep connection with life," Aerith began trying to be vague enough to not share any real information "I don't know much about my heritage except for the stories my mother told," not exactly a lie. Aerith had heard stories from her mother's memory but she knew everything about the Cetra "She told me we are so in tune with life that we can hear the spirit of the planet and can channel the essence of life like a semblance to heal."

"Sounds a lot like the Cetra," Blake commented drawing the attention "But there is no actual evidence of them being real. Just legends."

"Well…" Aerith was unsure about how to continue "They were real and I'm the very last of them," even to Aerith that sounded as convincing as a child claiming there is a monster under their bed. She groaned at herself and felt worse when she noticed the looks team RWBY were giving her.

"It's hard to prove in a world of dust and semblances," Aerith began again taking a more professional approach "But I promise you it's true," Blake raised an eyebrow in disbelief while the other three shared glances of confusion.

Conversation died as the bullhead landed and the doors slid open. Aerith excused herself, taking back her mug from Weiss, and reminding the girls about what she said. Team RWBY watched the teacher hurry away as they climbed out of the vehicle. There was a distinct feeling that they had done something wrong among three of them. Blake had the feeling Aerith revealed a secret not meant for them.

"Sooo…?" Yang dragged out and pressed "You gonna tell us?" Blake was momentarily confused "About Cetra?"

"After we get something to eat," Blake decided and started walking to the cafeteria. Yang let out a huff and followed her partner, Weiss and Ruby falling into step alongside them. Blake would share what she knew of the Cetra legends from Menagerie once they were back in their dorm and possibly share the truth of what happened at the docks…

* * *

"I delivered your message," a masked man with a naturally smooth and alluring voice said to the other masked man currently displayed on his scroll "Make sure my payment arrives soon. I hate leaving witnesses."

"Your lien is on its way. The White Fang is grateful for your services," the man on the other end of the call said with practiced calm. His horns and short red hair peeking into frame as he shifted his arm.

"If this was truly for the White Fang, you wouldn't have paid extra for me to leave your stray alive," the man terminated the call and slipped the scroll into a pocket on his chest.

"Twenty thousand just to send a message? And I thought my prices were steep," Roman Torchwick said with a smirk from his place on the couch in the warehouse office.

The masked man turned to Roman but did not respond. Silence fell on the room, only broken by the ginger criminal lighting a cigar. A full minute later the masked man turned sharply to the office door and moments later knob turned as a beautiful woman with a short red dress and long black hair pushed her way in. She offered a charming smile and extended a hand towards the standing masked man. He did not accept the offered handshake.

"You must be the one I've heard so much about," Cinder purr as she appraised him, lowering her hand. Black combat boots, black pants that would not restrict movement, black turtleneck under a light black coat with the hood up to cover his head, black gloves, and a white full face mask with no designs. She assumed he could see through the solid mask just fine and it went well with the odd two prong device pin his right arm. There was also a katana at his right hip though it's scabbard seemed to be strangely wide, and two gun handles poking out of his coat at the height of shoulder holsters.

"And you're late," the masked man stated, his charming voice taking the edge off the complaint.

"Please forgive a woman for wanting to look her best for meeting a new friend," she stepped forward closing the distance, the man remain still "First impressions are important," he was less imposing than she expected, Cinder stood a few inches taller than him but his unshakeable stance gave the image of power.

"Only to easily manipulated fools," the man challenged. Roman watched in disbelief, this man clearly had no idea who Cinder was and what she's capable of.

"There is no need for us to fight," Cinder purr as she got within arm's reach of the man "I can be a very beneficial ally," Cinder reached out to lay on hand on his chest, something Roman had seen her do before to test someone's aura or flash immolate them.

She touched his chest and an instant after he was beside her. Cinder smiled as she felt two blades against her neck and lazily looked to their source, both blades came from a single hilt held in the masked man's left hand. He is amazingly fast and deathly silent or he has a very useful semblance. Cinder could feel his gaze locked with her own.

"We are not allies. We are not friends. Now let's get to the business part of this needless meeting," he said calmly as if bored as he sheathed his double bladed sword.

Cinder smiled. She liked this man. So similar to Adam yet not nearly as emotional or simply driven. Better yet, Roman is afraid of him and the ginger only feared people like herself. "What should I call you?"

The man reply with only one word in his charmingly smooth voice "Silver."

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	10. Chapter 9

**After far too many delays, here is the next chapter.**

"So the stories say the Cetra were nomads that had magic and were the first to use dust," Blake explained to the other three of her team, they nodded and remain silent "They taught human and faunus to stand up and fight back the grimm. Or so the legends say."

"If that is true, as miss Gainsborough claims, what happened to them?" Weiss asked softly.

"There's only theories about that. Some think they faded over time, a plague wiped them out, war… there is one theory that they live with us but have a secret society."

"Oh! I read those books!" Yang cheered for herself with a wide smile.

"You have?" the other three asked with varying degrees of surprise and doubt. Yang sent each of them a playful glare.

"Yes, I read for fun to too. Just not as much you bookworms. Perry Hatter is a great series," Blake pinched the bridge of her nose to show her annoyance but Yang could see her smile.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. You mean there could be a school for magic out there?" the way Ruby's face lit up at the thought was downright adorable to her older sister.

Blake gave a small chuckle "In theory."

"Do magic and first to use dust?" Weiss asked to redirect the conversation back to the original topic "Anything else?"

"Well uh, some legends say they could talk to Remnant as if the world itself was sentient," Blake explained. It had been a few years since she had read or heard the legends "Other legends say they could talk to the dead but that probably has as much truth as the people that claim they can nowadays."

For a moment Yang hoped it could be true but realized that as much as she would like to hear from Summer again it would just cause more pain. She did her best to casually look to her younger sister to guess her thoughts. Yang saw the shine of hope in Ruby's eyes and felt her own heart drop, even if the stories were false she would be hurt. But if they were true and Aerith could speak with the dead, it would cause much more pain for Ruby. Knowing someone important to you was out there but just out of reach is unbearable and Yang knew that if she and her father could talk to Raven at any time but not actually interact, the wounds would never heal. She just had to get to Aerith before Ruby.

"Right Yang?" Ruby cheerfully asked making the blonde realize she had tuned out the conversation.

"Of course Rubes!" She cheered and wrapped an arm around her little sister. If she had just invited some kind of horrible fate upon herself she was going to blame Blake.

Weiss rolled her eyes "Unsurprising you'd agree with that," her reaction did not help Yang decipher the situation at all. Weiss' default setting was disagreement with her peers "Are you sure about this Blake?"

"Could be fun," Yang wanted to scream. No one was giving any sort of context "So far none of Ruby's ideas have been boring," Blake's words both relieved and worried Yang.

Ruby had an innocent idea of what was fun but the last time Yang had agreed to something while not paying attention she wound up having to explain to their father what exactly a Strawberry Cataclysm was and how the kitchen had turned deep red. Ruby had to explain the empty dust phials, the disassembled vacuum, and the freakshow blender. Yang was grounded for a weekend, Ruby had her toolkit taken away for two weeks which resulted in one of the more amusing shouting matches Yang had heard.

* * *

Exams came and went, teams RWBY and JNPR passed with varying levels of success. Ruby and Yang returned home to spend the break between semesters with their father, Jaune and Pyrrha also returned home to their respective families for the semester break. It left Weiss and Blake in an awkward silence once the four departed, Nora forced Ren to go into Vale with her, the two had never really spent much time together. It was clear to Blake that as hard as Weiss was trying it was still tense between them. Blake's past as a White Fang member did not help at all.

Any conversation between the two had been fleeting at best which lead to Blake's surprise when Weiss invited her to a cafe for lunch on the third day of the break. Even though she would have preferred to stay in the dorm to read Blake knew she had to meet Weiss halfway and agreed. They travelled in near silence, one would make a comment and the other would give a short reply. When they arrived at the cafe they both ordered tea and a sandwich and fell back into awkward silence. Blake swallowed her pride and forced out a question.

"What did you think of the teachers?"

"Overall they are quite helpful," Weiss stated with practiced ease "Just between us though, Port really needs to rethink his methods."

Blake felt an actual chuckle rumble her throat "I think all of Beacon would agree with you."

"Yeah, most likely. Oobleck is great but he talks way too fast."

"No kidding. I heard some people betting on what's inside that thermos he always has on his desk."

Weiss laughed lightly as she finished off her tea "What did you think about miss Gainsborough?"

"Very helpful. She seems to know a lot about aura."

"She does claim to be a Cetra," Weiss commented as she stacked the dishes on the table.

"I doubt she is," Blake's response seemed to surprise Weiss, if her eyebrows rising a tiny amount was any clue "All through recorded history there have been people claiming to be greater than others. I think she just has an exceptionally rare kind of semblance that is similar to the Cetra stories."

"Do you really think Ozpin would hire someone that's delusional?" Weiss sounded caught between being patient and insulted.

"He did hire Port," Blake said with a smirk to hopefully diffuse Weiss. A smile proved her successful.

"Controversial choices of teachers aside, have you heard about mister Fair?"

"I've heard team juniper enjoyed his class. Sounds like he's focused on making teams work."

"I heard from team sand that he's harsh in class but his methods work. They work much better together now," Weiss was curious about how her and Ruby would match up in a duel.

"I'm not looking forward to that class. I have to fight Yang,"

"It won't be bad. It's about making us learn about each other's strengths to help us coordinate."

"I know," Blake defended "But I have to fight _Yang Xiao Long_."

"Hmm… I see your point. Good thing you are great at evasion," Weiss added as they both stood to leave.

The duo fell into a much less awkward silence as they ventured into Vale. They visited a dust shop to get extra ammunition for the team, then a bookstore where Blake discovered Weiss' guilty pleasure of novels about heroic adventures. Conversation became easier as the day drifted by but cut off when they rounded a corner and saw several Vale police officers fighting back a growing crowd and two other officers quickly covering a form on the ground with a sheet that quickly soaked through with deep crimson. It took a second for them both to realize they were witnessing the establishment of an actual crime scene. Judging the factors, a murder had just happened in broad daylight.

"Oh my god," Weiss barely whispered as they both stood frozen by the sight. Unknown to each other was it is not the first time either of them had seen a body.

For Blake, however, the flashing lights and the sight fell to the back of her mind as her neck started to itch. She was being. Out of everything happening currently, she was being watched. A quick scan of the officers did not tell her anything, nor did looking through the crowd. A glance to the side had her turning. Across the street, on the fifth floor fire escape, is a figure dressed entirely in black with a black hood and snow white blank mask. The figure is casually leaning on the railing as if relaxed and enjoying a lazy day. Blake's heart thundered and her blood went cold as she unconsciously reached for her throat. The shadow with the mask gave a slight nod to her, striking terror into her.

Blake turned away and grabbed Weiss by the arm to pull her away "We need to go," Weiss' protests went unheard as she hauled away quickly.

Across the street on the fifth floor fire escape, the man known to a few as Silver gave an annoyed sigh. As fun as it was to strike fear into the heart of that cat faunus it did little to alleviate the stress of having to eliminate that reporter quickly. No method, no preparation, no pride in the act, just cold blooded messy murder. But that's what Cinder paid him to do and he was not about to complain. He had tripled his price for the rush job and she paid with no objection. That brought a chuckle up from his throat. The woman is arrogant and betrayed she has connections but that was of no concern to Silver, no connection could outdo his.

He chuckle to himself about his situation and stood tall then took a deep breath to steady himself and felt the world slip away. What felt like minutes later the concrete floor of the warehouse Roman was currently using as his base met his boot soles, in real time it was only a moment. The power to cross great distances in a moment is invaluable and a massive advantage, one best kept secret. Silver had teleported into one of the aisles of the warehouse and took a short rest to recover, while very useful he could understand why the eldest of his siblings rarely used it. He assumed that it was much worse for himself because he was not as great, merely a remnant of mother's favorite.

Deciding he had taken enough time Silver left the aisle and was amused by the surprise of the White Fang guards. Even better was the way they cowered away from him. He was glad the vermin knew their place, out of his way. He walked up to the office with his usual confident stride and opened the door, catching a quickly halted conversation between Cinder and Roman.

"Oh, Silver," Cinder began, making the man in question roll his eyes behind his mask "I am glad-"

"The job is done. That reporter is dead," Silver stated, intentionally cutting off Cinder. He hated having to listen to her prattle on.

Cinder hid her annoyance well "Good to hear. That nosy journalist-"

"I don't care," Silver interrupted again. He could see Roman struggling to stifle a laugh and could understand the pain. He enjoyed irritating Cinder "Just make sure the money is transferred by tomorrow morning."

"So soon? What if there is a delay?" she was implying something or trying to push Silver's buttons. But he had a very strict procedure to his work. She had earlier agreed to the payment amount and date.

"Then you lose a powerful ally and gain a very dangerous enemy. No one changes a deal with me."

"You would try to kill me over a small delay in payment?" Cinder asked with false shock and a smile. He caught the hidden message though, she honestly thought he was no threat. In a regular fight, she would win, he could sense the power she had. But Silver does not fight head-on or fairly.

"Payment is to be transferred by nine in the morning. If it's not there, you'll learn how I've become a prolific hunter of Hunters."

* * *

"Blake! Seriously!" Weiss complained as she tried in vain to pry her teammate's hand off her bicep "What is wrong with you?"

Blake had all but dragged her teammate back to the bullhead station from the crime scene. It was not a short journey. They were just outside of the building in front of the docks when Blake released Weiss. The pale girl is glad to be free and amazed by Blake's strong grip and endurance.

"Now can you explain what got into you?" Weiss asked forcing herself calm while massaging her bicep.

"I saw the guy from that night at the docks. He was watching the scene and me," Blake felt the tremble in her voice and took a deep breath.

"Torchwick?" Weiss asked in a harsh whisper.

"What? No. The hunter."

"What!?" Weiss tried to whisper but it came out as a frightened squeak "We have to go to the authorities! We have to tell Ozpin!"

"It's not that simple. He was wearing his mask," Blake said back.

"How do you know it was him then?" the speed at which Weiss went from frightened to skeptical was astounding to Blake.

"Same clothes, weapons, and clothes. That night on the docks he just had a White Fang tunic on top," Blake took a deep calming breath before divulging the true story of what happened.

She would never forget that night. Staring up at two parallel blades hovering above her while the masked man pressed a boot down on her throat. Nothing had her more fearful than that moment, being powerless against someone that so easily broke through her aura. Not even Adam had frightened her that much and she had seen him unleash merciless fury. This man though, had so effortlessly taken her down with no battle cries, mocking, growls, goading, or anything. Just silent pinpoint accuracy and pulled punches which had been driving her mad until he spoke one line that been haunting her since.

" _Adam paid extra to leave you alive. You should be glad he discovered my contract to dispose of the traitor."_

Those words had been haunting her since then. She had woken up in a cold sweat on multiple occasions with those words crawling through her mind. Someone or several people wanted her dead for leaving the White Fang and Adam had saved her. That could not be true to her. If that man could find her it was only a matter of time until Adam did as will. Did he tell Adam where she was? Was he already coming for her?

"Blake, let's get back to Beacon. I want to make a call," Weiss demanded more than suggested. They both knew Blake would feel safer there and Weiss intended to squeeze as much information about the man as she could out of her friend.

* * *

The remaining few days of the semester break drifted by and soon enough Ruby, Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha were arriving back at school. Blake, Weiss, Nora, and Ren were there to greet their friends and were surprised to see Yang and Ruby accompanied by two older men; one that was unquestionably their father and one that had a similar fashion sense to Ruby. He was assumed to be the cool uncle they had heard about. They all walked towards Beacon in a group of ten, talking quickly about their time apart. Qrow and Taiyang fell behind to let the kids chat, neither spoke during the approach to their old school.

"Hey kids," Taiyang said loudly to specifically his kids "We're gonna say hi to Ozpin. Let him know the trouble makers are back."

Yang and Ruby waved their goodbye and the adults split from the group of teenagers to go see their former headmaster. The elevator ride was long and quiet but not awkward or uncomfortable. Taiyang's scowl spoke volumes and Qrow had to suppress a chuckle. Qrow had spoke with his old friend during the break, got him up to speed on what is happening in Beacon and Taiyang was less than thrilled but was able to hide it. He wanted to have a few words with Ozpin and Qrow informed him of the plan he had been building. The elevator chimed and the men stepped out to see Ozpin speaking on his scroll, his strangely cheerful tone indicating it most likely concerned funding for Beacon; Qrow had learned the man only used that tone with the Vale council. The call lasted several more minutes, just long enough for Qrow and Taiyang to begin to feel awkward standing around their former headmaster.

When the call finally ended Ozpin took a sip from his mug then spoke to his visitors "Taiyang-"

"Qrow filled me in," the blonde interrupted "After everything that's happened you're letting two unknown people near my daughters."

"Please understand-"

"After Summer. She knew the dangers and volunteered for your mission. But this is too much Oz. You are using my children as bait now," it had been years since Taiyang had felt his semblance begin to activate only from emotion, longer since Ozpin and Qrow had seen him furious "I'm here to demand transfers to Atlas."

"You'll be dividing the team and taking them away from dear friends."

"Then transfer the whole team. And team juniper if it makes you happy. I know you have that power Oz," As Taiyang spoke he walked up to the opulent desk and set his hands on the clean surface "I'm not letting you pull my kids into your games before they're ready. I know James would help speed up the process."

The mention of the General of the northern kingdom made the headmaster bristle "It's not that simple Taiyang. Assuming Qrow also told you of Vincent, if what he says is true Zack is waiting for right moment to strike. A long trip to Atlas would give him that opportunity. I did not put Ruby in this position, Zack or another arranged it and I am doing all I can to protect her without letting it be known I am aware of the plot."

Taiyang swung his fury filled gaze over to his old friend and Qrow raised his hands in surrender "That part I didn't know. But we're in a corner now. Clearly Zack has been playing us. I'm betting he knows he's being monitored by more than just Vincent and is manipulating us."

"We have to be extra careful," Ozpin agreed "Dealing with a mastermind strategist is no easy feat."

* * *

Zack sheepishly sat on the examination bed in the clinic portion of the Beacon Infirmary. The way the doctor, who was also a trained Huntsman, looked bewildered was not helping. Aerith sitting nearby with her head in her hands stifling laughter made him feel worse. Good thing he was extra durable and had been through worse but it was good to know what to expect.

"Seriously?" the doctor, a middle aged woman dressed modestly and combat ready with a touch of gray in her light brown hair, asked looking between them "You're a Huntsman."

"I don't use dust at all in my weapon or techniques."

"You're a teacher."

"I'm from a small village."

"Your students use dust."

"I, uh, confused it for salt?"

"A whole vial? And it was red!" the doctor was getting more flabbergasted and louder with each of Zack's responses.

"I was curious how it tasted?"

The doctor took a deep breath to calm down. It was one thing to deal with stupid students taking ridiculous risks to impress their friends but a whole other issue when a teacher did something so foolish. Not the first time a teacher had come to her with a silly injury or issue but never something like this and it deserved a reprimanding "The reason why is unimportant. And you'll be fine aside from the horrid heartburn and unpleasant bathroom trip in the near future," dust consumption was really only dangerous to regular people "Just drink lots of water to wash it through and for god's sake never do it again."

Zack grabbed his sword then left the room and the infirmary in a hurry while Aerith lingered to speak with the doctor. After sending a quick message to Aerith, Zack wandered off hoping to catch some students off guard. Maybe menace them a bit to keep them guessing and a great target presented itself when the ex-SOLDIER exited the building. Cardin Winchester. He was with his team surrounding a pair of girls, one looked to have gills in her neck and the other looked like a regular human from what Zack could see. He had heard Glynda had dealt the teen boy punishment for harassing that girl in the cafeteria, and for hitting a teacher, and was curious how effective it was.

"Cardin Winchester," Zack called as he stood straight and marched over. The way Cardin flinched was amusing "I see the punishment from professor Goodwitch was lacking. Perhaps we need to double down on your team." The looks of fear from the other three of team CRDL were grand.

"What does that mean?" while Cardin was focusing his ire on Zack, the two girls took their leave. The teenage bully refused to show more weakness to Zack.

With his regular cheerful smile Zack leaned in close to speak in a low voice "It means that for any mistake from any of you four, all of you will suffer the punishment. So reasonable behavior from now on or the four of you will be cleaning every bathroom in Beacon," the one punishment that always worked on people with superior physical abilities: long, tedious, manual labor. Zack himself cleaned the SOLDIER command offices enough times to know the most efficient route.

Cardin was puzzled by the threat "Seriously?" he was failing to see the true ramifications of the punishment.

"Well if you wish to start right now, that can be arranged. It'll give plenty of time for the _entire population_ of Beacon a chance to see mighty team cardinal scrubbing toilets and urinals," the horror sinking in was hilarious to Zack. He now knew why Angeal and Genesis used to argue about who got to discipline unruly recruits. It was once believed that Genesis just hated new recruits and loved making them miserable and while that was mostly true, Angeal had revealed that Genesis got great amusement out of using dense literature as psychological torment or using the recruits as his personal cleaning service. While Angeal was more reasonable, making rule breakers clean around Shinra HQ, he enjoyed watching the victims realise the horror of having to vacuum the lobby in full uniform.

"Thanks for the warning, sir," Russell quickly said.

"Yeah, we'll behave ourselves," Sky added. The team of four took their cue and retreated from the area.

Once they were far enough away Zack laughed to himself and scanned the area for more students to pester. Short blond hair and white armor caught his attention and he walked across the plaza towards his pupil. The blonde girl saw him approaching but chose to not mention it. Zack barked Jaune's name and the way the teen jumped ripped a laugh out of Zack, the blond girl, Nora, and Ruby.

"Sorry Jaune," Zack laughed "I couldn't resist. How was the break for all of you?" the expected chorus of 'good's and 'not bad's rang out "Good, good. Any of you looking forward to class?" a couple false confirmations and several mumbles "I felt the same way as you when I was in training. Although I didn't have Port as a teacher," Zack heard two pairs of feet approaching behind him as most of the two teams cursed Zack for being able to dodge the boring lectures.

"Hey dad, hey uncle Qrow!" Ruby called out. Zack turned to face the older men, as did team JNPR, and looked over the blond man, that is obviously the blonde girl's father, and the one that looked like a relaxed Vincent.

"So which friend is this?" the blond asked.

"He looks a bit too old to hang out with a bunch of kids," the one with dark hair commented.

"Zack Fair. I teach better team cohesion."

"Like how to better get along?" blond man asked.

"You're teaching kids how to make friends?" unkempt man asked. Zack could smell lingering alcohol on his breath.

"Don't have to like each other to fight well together," Zack reply with a shrug. The two men looked to each other and shrugged with added nods.

"Sounds like a class we could've used," the blond said with a smile to the unkempt man. Zack could see through their false cheerfulness easily. It was in their posture, forced ease.

"Why don't we step over the friendly interview?" Zack asked with a smile "Get to the meat of this talk."

"No idea-" mister unkempt began but Zack cut him off.

"You're both tense. Acting like you're both relaxed. So what's up?" once more the two men looked at each other before speaking.

"I'm just a worried about a new young teacher at Beacon, that I don't know at all, teaching my daughters to fight their friends," blonde man said with barely contained anger. Zack realized then he is a very protective father.

"Oh come on dad," the blonde girl whined from behind Zack.

"You're welcome to sit in on the lessons. I guess you know the other staff to some extent and Ozpin won't mind."

The unkempt man laughed as he stepped forward to wrap an am around Zack's shoulders "I like how chill you are. Definitely friendlier than Glynda."

"I save the mean and scary thing for the classroom. Keeps the students on their toes," Zack said with a smile as he wrapped an arm around the unkempt man's shoulders.

"Come for a drink with me and Tai. We'll let the kids go play with their friends and we can swap teaching horror stories," the unkempt man said with a tilted smirk.

"Sure. Smells like you know you're way around Vale's bars," this time Tai laughed while unkempt looked shocked by Zack.

"We'll see you later, girls," Taiyang said to his daughters as Zack and Qrow separated and started walking away while making jokes at each other before turning on his heel.

The group of eight teens watched the adults walk away before Yang broke the silence "Weird. I've never seen them so interested in a teacher."

"Yeah. Except if uncle Qrow thought he had a chance," Ruby added drawing a laugh from her sister.

"So true. But I don't think dad and uncle want in Fair's pants."

Jaune groaned and covered his face with both hands "That's an image I didn't need…"

"Anyways," Weiss called out to the group "Let's head up to our dorms and get you guys settled back in."

"Me and Weiss have something to tell you," Blake followed up.

"Oh my god! You got her pregnant!" Yang immediately shouted with a smile that showed she knew exactly how obnoxious she was being, and drawing some looks. Weiss blushed bright red from embarrassment, Yang laughed, Blake looked like she was struggling to process what had been said, and the other five of the group awkwardly chuckled.

"There are so many things wrong with that I don't know where to begin…" Blake eventually said "Let's just get going."

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